Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron

The Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) is a special unit of the US Coast Guard in charge of drug-interdiction and anti-smuggling missions in the Caribbean. Known as the Force from Above, HITRON is the USCG single provider of forward-deployed airborne use of force aviation detachments across Western Hemisphere narcotics transit zones. HITRON is based at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida and unlike other search and rescue (SAR) units is equipped with armed helicopters.

The squadron tested an armed version of the MD902 Explorer but started operations in December 2000 with Agusta MH-68A Stingray helicopters. In February 2008 transitioned to the MH-65C variant of the Dolphin, later to MH-65D and since 2019 uses the MH-65E.

HITRON

Created in 1999 as a classified proof-of-concept, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) pioneered “airborne use of force” (AUF): armed helicopters launched from cutters to stop high-speed smuggling boats at sea. Based at Jacksonville/Cecil Field, the unit evolved from early MD-900/902 “MH-90” trials to leased Agusta A109E “MH-68A Stingray” aircraft in 2000, then transitioned in 2008 to the armed MH-65 Dolphin it flies today on deployments to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

HITRON tactics pair warning shots with a precision marksman’s disabling rifle fire to stop non-compliant “go-fasts,” working alongside cutter law-enforcement teams and interagency partners such as JIATF-South.

As of 2023, HITRON has been responsible for the seizure of over $28.2 billion in illicit narcotics.

On August 25, 2025 the unit marked its 1,000th interdiction, seizing about 3,606 lb of cocaine; since October 1, 2024 alone it has interdicted $3.3 billion in narcotics—triple its historic annual average—and, since inception, $33.2 billion overall. The squadron has grown to 200+ personnel and now averages one interdiction roughly every nine days.