Transforming the Fleet
Written by PETER BUXBAUM
The United States Coast Guard is faced with multifaceted missions—ensuring public safety, enforcing laws, protecting natural resources, and providing for maritime homeland security. These challenges require that the Coast Guard invest in and maintain a variety of operational vessels.
At the same time, the Coast Guard is challenged to maintain vessel readiness. Fatigue, corrosion and obsolete technology have taken their toll on its fleet. In response, the Coast Guard has committed, since the mid-1990s, annual investments of over $1.5 billion and a total of $27 billion for modernization and recapitalization, much of it directed toward upgrading and replacing the Coast Guard’s aging vessels. Since 2007, the Coast Guard’s Acquisition Directorate has been spearheading this effort.
A major component of the program’s portfolio is the Integrated Deepwater System program. Deepwater began in the mid-1990s when the Coast Guard sought a comprehensive, state-of-the-market, system-of-systems approach to delivering new platforms and modernizing legacy assets. In 2002, the Coast Guard competitively awarded the Deepwater program as an independent acquisition to Integrated Coast Guard Systems, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
The approach of using a commercial lead systems integrator for a complex acquisition proved problematic, however. Systems failures and cost overruns led the Government Accountability Office to conclude that the Coast Guard’s Deepwater management approach was overly risky. At the end of the first five-year contract award period, the Coast Guard reasserted its role as lead systems integrator and decided to bring Deepwater projects under the management of the Acquisition Directorate.
The Acquisition Directorate’s job is to deliver mission capability in each of its operational domains. The 418-foot National Security Cutter (NSC), the future flagship of the Coast Guard fleet, is designed to “run with the Navy.” A Fast Response Cutter (FRC) is now being developed, while an eventual Offshore Patrol Cutter, with capabilities midway between the NSC and the FRC, is now on Acquisition Directorate drawing boards. The 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat (CPB) was developed and has been delivered to replace the aging fleet of 82-foot Point Class cutters, while two smaller boats, the Long Range Interceptor and the Short Range Prosecutor, are being designed to be carried aboard some of the larger vessels. The Coast Guard is also operating a Mission Effectiveness Program, which is refurbishing legacy assets to enhance its reliability until newer vessels can be launched and the older craft retired.
The National Security Cutter is the largest and most advanced of the Coast Guard recapitalization program’s cutters and will replace the 378-foot High Endurance Hamilton class cutters, which have been in service since the 1960s. The first NSC, the Bertholf, was commissioned in August 2008; a second, the Waesche, is about to be delivered, while a third, the Stratton, is currently under construction.
The Coast Guard expects the NSCs to remain in service for 30 years and to execute the Coast Guard’s most challenging missions, such as supporting joint U.S. combatant commanders and exerting jurisdiction over foreign-flagged ships transiting U.S. waters. Compared with the legacy cutters, the NSC’s design will provide better sea keeping and higher speeds; greater endurance and range; and the ability for launch and recovery in higher sea states, of improved small boats, helicopters, and, eventually, unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Waesche underwent builder’s trials this past summer and performed well, according to Captain Jim Knight, commanding officer of USCG Project Resident Office Gulf Coast in Pascagoula, Miss. The builder’s trials allow the contractor to identify items requiring additional work prior to presenting the ship to the Coast Guard for acceptance trials.
“The maturity of the systems and software exceeded my expectations,” said Knight. “The Waesche performed well in all mission areas including C4, navigation, stern launch and recovery of the small boat, and full power trials.” The crew also successfully executed live fire tests of the cutter’s close-in weapon system and its 57 mm gun.
“Waesche’s propulsion, C4I, navigation, and deck systems are a quantum leap from the cutters I have been sailing for the last 15 years,” said Captain Lance Bardo, the prospective commanding officer of the Waesche. “The ship is smart, handles well, and has capabilities we have only just begun to understand. While problems do continue to exist with the machinery control system, the C4ISR systems, the boat launch and recovery system and other mechanical systems, they are normal for builder’s trials.”
Various studies documented the deteriorating condition of the 82-foot Point Class fleet and the urgent need to replace it with a more capable and cost efficient vessel—the CPBs. The contract to build the vessels was awarded in 1996; the last of the 75 CPBs was delivered to the Coast Guard earlier this year. “The CPB acquisition strategy called for an existing parent craft with proven service in Coast Guard-type missions,” said Captain Richard Murphy, the CBP program manager. “This strategy streamlined the acquisition process by eliminating the need for the demonstration and validation phase.”
CBP’s parent vessel was designed by Damen, a Netherlandsbased concern, and built by Bollinger Shipyards. The CBPs delivered to the Coast Guard included modifications to the original Damen vessel, in order to meet Coast Guard requirements, according to Murphy.
CBP’s 5 feet of additional length over its predecessor increases tonnage and length beam, which, in turn, “enhances sea keeping and maneuvering, which is much better for crew fatigue,” said Murphy, “and makes it easier to execute missions in heavier seas.”
The CPB includes several enhancements to its predecessor, including improved mission sea keeping abilities, upgraded habitability, and compliance with current and projected environmental protection laws. It also employs an innovative stern launch and recovery system using an aluminum-hulled, inboard dieselpowered, water jet-propelled small boat. The larger pilot house is equipped with an integrated bridge system including an electronic chart display system, which interfaces with the Coast Guard’s new surface search radar.
“The Coastal Patrol Boat was a very successful project,” said Murphy. “We met all cost, schedule and performance requirements.”
The FRC, also known as the Sentinel-class patrol boat, is envisioned as the workhorse of the Coast Guard fleet and will replace the 110-foot Island-class patrol-cutters to conduct missions such as port, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense.
The Sentinel-class patrol boat will be 153 feet long, capable of speeds of 28-plus knots, and armed with one stabilized, remotely operated 25 mm chain gun and four crew-operated .50-caliber machine guns. It will have a crew capacity of 22 and will be able to perform independently for a minimum of five days at sea. Sentinel’s enhanced C4ISR systems will be interoperable with existing and future Coast Guard assets as well as with those of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. As many as 58 Sentinels are planned for at this point.
“The Sentinel-class patrol boat will help meet the service’s need for additional patrol boats,” said Murphy, who is also the Sentinel program manager. “The current patrol boat operational gap hinders the Coast Guard’s ability to most successfully and efficiently complete potential missions.” The Sentinel is also based on a Damen parent vessel, in this case the Damen 4708 Stan patrol boat, three of which are being operated by the Coast Guard of South Africa. “Modifications to the parent vessel include an increase in speed,” said Murphy. “We also changed from a controllable pitch to a fixed pitch propeller to save weight and complexity.”
The Sentinel will also be equipped with one 8-meter rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB). “The purpose is mission extension,” said Murphy. “The RHIB can conduct law enforcement operations at 40 knots.”
As compared with the Island-class cutter it will be replacing, the Sentinel will be equipped with an enhanced bridge suite that will better facilitate information sharing as well as more secure and encrypted communications, according to Murphy. The first Sentinel is scheduled to be delivered in January 2011. The current contract with Bollinger Shipyards calls for delivery of 34 cutters to be delivered through 2016. “We will have to go out for a second acquisition to acquire the balance of the cutters,” said Murphy.
The Long Range Interceptor (LRI) and Short Range Prosecutor (SRP) are smaller boats to be used as transports to support mission activities, including law enforcement and rescue and assistance teams. The FRC will be carrying one SRP. The NSC will be carrying three boats of either class, or in combination. There are three distinct mission profiles for the 11-meter LRI: as a shipboard ready boat; for over-the-horizon end-game support for airborne use of force; and as an over-the-horizon extension of the cutter. The 7-meter SRP will operate primarily as a chase boat, typically within the line-of-sight of the host cutter. “We are currently developing the requirements for these two boats,” said James Linton, the program manager for the LRI and SRP. Once those have been set, the Coast Guard intends to “release a request for proposal to go to the design and construction of both boats.
“For the SRP we are looking for a commercial vessel to be modified,” he added. “The LRI will be designed based on Coast Guard requirements.” Linton projects the Coast Guard will be awarding contracts on the SRP during the second quarter of FY10 and during the following quarter for the LRI.
Still very much on the drawing boards is the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), a vessel that will eventually replace legacy 210-foot and 270-foot cutters and which is thought of as midway between the NSC and the FRC in terms of its size and capabilities. Its length will likely measure between 300 feet and 400 feet, according to Captain Brad Fabling, the OPC program manager.
“The OPC’s capabilities have yet to be determined,” he said. “The requirements document is the key to moving forward. Without it, we can’t put together an acquisition strategy and we don’t know what we’re buying.”
Although the specifics have yet to be nailed down, Fabling projects the OPC to end up closer to the NSC than to the FRC. “The NSC is supposed to be able to run with the Navy,” he said. “The OPC is not envisioned to be fully naval capable, but we anticipate it will be equipped with some big guns and a very capable C4I suite. The details are still being worked out.”
Budgeting is one major challenge the OPC will have to overcome. For one thing, the Coast Guard can’t afford to build two major vessels, the NSC and the OPC, at the same time, according to Fabling.
“We have to see what is affordable,” he explained. “Some recent programs haven’t gotten their arms around affordability. We need to be realistic when we go to Congress with what we can buy in terms of requirements and budgets.”
Fabling hopes requirements will be nailed down within the next six to eight months. He expects these will include a much improved communications suite, as compared to the legacy assets OPC will be replacing, as well as greater stability in high sea states. The Coast Guard’s recapitalization program is a long-term project in which new capabilities are being brought on line gradually while legacy assets are being phased out over time. This has left something of a gap in the reliability of older platforms, which need to be able to effectively perform Coast Guard missions until they are ready to be retired. The Coast Guard’s answer to this dilemma has come in the form of the Mission Effectiveness Project (MEP), a program designed to improve the mission capability and lower the operating costs of cutters and patrol boats, and to bridge the gap between the aging fleet and the delivery of new assets.
Under MEP, 20 of the 110-foot Island-class patrol boats, 14 of the 210-foot Reliance-class medium endurance cutters, and 13 of the 270-foot Famous-class medium endurance cutters will be undergoing refurbishment at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Md.
“MEP was not envisioned as a service life extension project, which would involve more extensive repairs or replacement of items like a ship’s main engines,” explained MEP project manager Ken King. “Instead, MEP’s goal is to increase the mission effectiveness of selected cutters by driving down the number of equipment failures, thus resulting in increased operational availability. It’s really a bridge. The whole point of the project is to infuse money into aging cutters to make them more reliable.”
By replacing obsolete systems, MEP helps improve the reliability and reduce future maintenance costs for legacy cutters, according to King. Work on the 210-foot and 270-foot cutters revolves primarily around renewing piping, pumping, electrical, and ventilation systems; overhauling galleys; and renewing fuel control systems. MEP is also installing small cranes known as a Welin-Lambie boat davit, which facilitates deployment of over-the-horizon cutter boats, on the 210-foot cutters. The 110-foot vessels have also undergone restoration of the structural integrity of its hull, where corrosion has undermined its relatively thin plating.
So far, eight of the 20 110-foot patrol boats and nine of the 14 210-foot cutters have completed MEP. The 210-foot cutters, each of which needs an average of seven months at the yard to complete MEP, are scheduled to finish MEP late next year. Seven of the 13 270-foot cutters have completed the first phase of MEP thus far and will be returning to the yard for a second six-month MEP phase. The remaining seven 270-foot cutters will undergo a single 11-month refurbishment through early 2014. The 110-foot patrol boats are scheduled to finish MEP in 2013.
The effectiveness of MEP has been measured by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center and proves that “MEP gives you a lot of bang for the buck,” said King. MEP has provided “dramatic improvements,” he said, in both the percentage of time a ship is free of major repairs or casualties, and the percentage of time a ship is fully mission capable. According to the Volpe Center, both of these percentages doubled for each class of ship between 2006 and 2008. “With the 110-foot cutters, you’re pretty much gutting a hull for under $10 million,” said King. “It’s almost like getting a brand new ship for that money.”
Refurbishing the 110-foot patrol boats will help bridge the Coast Guard’s capabilities gap until the 153-foot Sentinel-class patrol boats are launched, while refurbishing the 210-foot and 270-foot medium endurance cutters will help bridge the gap until the OPCs are designed and delivered. ♦