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The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star and LC-130H Hercules aircraft are essential for Operation Deep Freeze, supporting U.S. operations in Antarctica. The Polar Star, commissioned in 1976, breaks ice channels in the Ross Sea to resupply McMurdo Station.

The LC-130H, operational since 1977 and currently with the New York Air National Guard, provides air transport over the Antarctic interior. Together, these platforms operate under Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica, facilitating year-round access for scientific research and maintaining the U.S. presence in the region.