a metro iii, c/n ac-614, was modified as the fairchild aircraft/lockheed multi mission surveillance aircraft, featuring a lockheed phased array radar in a long pod under the fuselage. several aspects of the mmsa aircraft were incorporated on some usaf c-26s redesignated as the rc-26b, operated by the air national guard (ang) in various states. these aircraft have been primarily used for department of defense reconnaissance mission support to various agencies of the department of homeland security such as the united states coast guard (uscg) and customs and border protection (cbp) in the war on drugs, and to uscg and/or the federal emergency management agency (fema) in the wake of natural disasters. the rc-26b aircraft were originally configured with a belly pod containing a sensor turret and a data recorder. recently, this pod has been removed and a sensor turret has been added to the belly of the aircraft. some of the rc-26bs were operated for a time with civil registrations. on 4 february 2019, a contract for elbit systems of america to provide an avionics upgrade to the air national guard's rc-26bs was announced.