NEW CUTTERS REPRESENT A NEW NORMAL, The offshore patrol cutter will replace aging medium endurance cutters.

BY EDWARD LUNDQUIST

The U.S. Coast Guard’s 1,300-ton, 210-foot Relianceclassand 1,800-ton, 270-foot Famous-class mediumendurance cutters have been the workhorses of the fleet, with some more than 50 years old, but need to be retired. Even with targeted investments to keep them operationally relevant and available for service, they are still technologically obsolescent and too expensive to maintain.

The new platform to replace them will be the offshore patrol cutter, or OPC, being built at Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) in Panama City, Florida.

The Coast Guard exercised its contract option to build the lead ship, CGC Argus (WMSM 915) – the MSM stands for maritime security cutter-medium – in September 2018. Construction has now begun and Argus is scheduled to be delivered in 2021. At the same time, the service exercised its contract option to acquire long lead-time materials for the second OPC. “The actions enable the production phase of the program, which is the largest in Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security history to date, to proceed,” said Brian Olexy, spokesperson for the Coast Guard’s Acquisition Directorate.

Olexy said the total value of the options exercised is $317.5 million. In addition to covering production of the lead OPC, this contract action also covers the initial order of components and materials necessary to support the future construction of the second OPC by acquiring propeller and steering components, marine diesel engines, the ship’s integrated control system, switchboards, and generators.

According to ESG’s president Joey D’Isernia, Eastern has a vendor network from 29 states supporting the OPC program.

Just as the work was beginning, Panama City was hit by Hurricane Michael, which caused damage to the community and surrounding areas and affected the shipyard and its workforce. No steel had been cut, so there was no damage to the lead ship.

There are 25 OPCs planned to replace the smaller and less capable but slightly more numerous WMEC 210s and WMEC 270s. (There are 14 210s still active, with two decommissioned, and 13 of the 270s, along with a single ship of the Alex Haley class, which was formerly a 286- foot Navy salvage ship.)

Whereas the 270s and 210s had crews of 100 and 75 respectively, the much larger 360-foot, 3,700-ton Heritage-class OPC will accommodate a crew of up to 126. They are capable of eight-week patrols.

The OPC will be smaller than the national security cutter (NSC), and larger than the fast response cutter (FSC). Like the NSC, the OPCs and WMECs operate under the Atlantic and Pacific area commands. The smaller FRC and 110-foot patrol boats fall under the districts.

The Coast Guard kept the 210s and 270s in service for such a long time that many modifications not originally envisioned were made to the cutters. With the OPC, provisions are being made so that adapting new systems and technology will be easier to accomplish.

The OPC will also be capable of deploying independently or as part of a task group. It will be interoperable with the U.S. Navy and able to seamlessly integrate into national defense missions, with the ability to support mobile command and control platform operations. This capability will be critically important for major incident operations, such as hurricane/natural disaster and environmental response. As activity increases in the Arctic, the OPC will find itself deploying to Alaska waters and helping to regulate and protect emerging commercial and energy activities in the region.

“The OPC will have the ability to exchange voice, data, and video with other Coast Guard assets, as well as U.S. Navy aircraft and ships and U.S. government partners, as well as commercial and private aircraft and vessels. The OPC will also have facilities to communicate and share data with NATO and international partners,” Olexy said.

Northrop Grumman is the C4ISR and control systems integrator for the OPC, which includes the integrated bridge, navigation, command and control, computing network, data distribution, machinery control, and propulsion control system design and production. The main battery is the BAE Systems MK 110 57 mm gun, also found on the NSC and the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ships, capable of firing up to 220 rounds per minute.

Olexy said the OPC will be optimized for law enforcement missions. “The OPC will feature law enforcement [LE] locker room space to expedite boarding team readiness … Additionally, a generatorpowered propulsion motor will decrease wear and tear on the ship’s main engines and also conserve fuel in between high-tempo operations.”

The NSC, FRC, and OPC represent a new normal for the Coast Guard fleet, with greater fuel capacity, efficiency, habitability, and food capacity that directly affect mission endurance and effectiveness.

The OPC will have flight deck and aviation facilities to accommodate rotary-wing or unmanned aircraft. Because of its size, the OPC will have better seakeeping, and enable it to better counter transnational criminal organization activities in maritime transit zones and curb illegal migration on the high seas. The OPC will be able to make longer transits much faster. “That gets our people, aircraft, and boats on station faster, which is critical for interdiction and search and rescue cases. It’s going to be a fantastic platform,” said Cmdr. Heather Kelly, deputy enforcement chief for District 11.

Both the NSC and the FRC deploy cutterboats from their stern launches for mission execution. However, the OPC will lack the stern launch-and-recovery facility that the NSC and FRC use. Stern launch ability was not included in the Coast Guard’s requirement for the OPC.

The WMECs are at or past their expected service life, and if the OPC program is delayed or underfunded, the Coast Guard may find itself without enough ocean-going cutters to fulfill its missions. A service life extension for the 270-foot medium-endurance cutters would help fill the gap until the OPCs are delivered. But there will be no more service life extensions for the 210s, which are nearing 60 years of age.

Heritage-class offshore security cutters are named after ships that have played a significant role in the service’s history. The names of the first 11 cutters are:

• Argus (WMSM 915)

• Chase (WMSM 916)

• Ingham (WMSM 917)

• Rush (WMSM 918)

• Pickering (WMSM 919)

• Icarus (WMSM 920)

• Active (WMSM 921)

• Diligence (WMSM 922)

• Alert (WMSM 923)

• Vigilant (WMSM 924)

• Reliance (WMSM 925)