Above is a YouTube video. The accompanying explanation is immediately below,

“U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabriel Wisdom explains the intricacies of the Coast Guard’s personal watercraft program, a law enforcement training program conducted on small watercraft commonly called jet skis, at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 4, 2026. The PWC program was created to counter human-smuggling threats on the Southwest Border near San Diego.”

One of our regular readers sent it to me. Unfortunately I lost track of who it was, but thank you.

Pohjanmaa Ice Strengthened Corvette

Just ran across a short post, “Rauma Shipyard Launches Third Pohjanmaa-Class Corvette for the Finnish Navy.” (Description here)

(Wonder if they are being made by the same yard making the Arctic Security Cutter?)

I found that the yard building these ships is the same yard working with Bollinger to build Arctic Security Cutters.

(We are way behind on building large patrol cutters. Maybe we could do something like the Arctic Security Program, Maybe build two in Finland and the rest in the US.)

The Finns are in the middle of the program now, but they are moving fast. The first contract Was awarded 26 September 2019. First steel was cut 30 Oct 2023. Of the four ships planned, three have already been launched. All are expected to be delivered 2027 to 2029.

(They have a hot production line. Maybe we could take advantage of that.)

The US has no ice strengthened warships even though we are an Arctic Nation. These ships are designed to operate in difficult ice conditions with ice thickness typically greater than 0.5 to 1.0 meter, approximating Ice Class 1A. That is not to say they are icebreakers. They would normally follow an icebreaker.

(This is another example of where we can benefit from the Finns’ experience.)

The US Navy has no minelayers. These ships could also provide that capability. Maybe even the Hammerhead encapsulated torpedo mine.

Of course they should also function as WMECs. They are designed for an MEC size crew (70) but have accommodations for up to 120.

It is a long way from my original Cutter X concept, but the world has become more hostile.

USCGC Stratton (WMSL 752) conducts a joint sail with the Canadian offshore patrol vessel HMCS Max Bernays while patrolling the Bering Sea, Aug. 11, 2026. The evolution strengthened maritime interoperability and increased operational coordination between the U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy in the Arctic region. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo by Troy Askew)

Below is a news release from District SW.

Significantly there were two National Security Cutters on Alaska Patrol for most of this period.

“…Munro (WMSL 755) returned to their Base Alameda homeport on Coast Guard Island Oct. 9, 2026, following a 112-day Alaska patrol that covered more than 23,000 nautical miles across the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean.

Both supported Operation Tundra Merlin. “TUNDRA MERLIN has run across Alaska since the summer, including a HIMARS deployment to Nome and an 800-mile combined Bering Sea and Bering Strait patrol.”

Operation Tundra Merlin was a targeting exercise.

“‘Simulated maritime target engagements’ is unglamorous phrasing for something genuinely difficult. A Canadian patrol aircraft finds a contact. That contact has to become a track, the track has to reach whoever can shoot at it, and the shooter has to trust the data enough to act on it — across two air forces, a navy, a coast guard and a combatant command, over a stretch of ocean with no permanent radar coverage and famously hostile weather.

“USNORTHCOM’s own framing is that the exercise is about ‘validating targeting information flow and exercising engagement processes.’ That is the kill chain, and the chain is where these things break.”

Sounds like it comes down to denying potential enemies access to the Bering Strait, an increasingly important choke point. The Coast Guard and Canadian surface units seem to have been playing the same role Soviet AGIs used to play, acting as a tattletale on enemy surface units.

It was always assumed AGIs would be destroyed as soon as the shooting started, though some had 30mm gatling gun and a few torpedo tubes below the waterline.

As a role in the period before hostilities, the National Security Cutters are certainly better for this than the Canadian AOPS by virtue of their higher speed, better armament, and probably better communications, but they are still pretty vulnerable. I would feel a lot more comfortable if the cutters had SeaRAM in place of the Phalanx and some containerized Naval Strike Missile mounted on the Foc’sle.

It appears Stratton made the deployment without an embarked helicopter detachment. Presumably she carried a V-BAT UAS. I saw no indication Munro carried a helicopter during their Alaska patrol either. Is this a trend?

USCGC Stratton (WMSL 752) conducts a simulated fueling-at-anchor evolution with USCGC Storis (WAGB 21) in Broad Bay, Alaska, Oct. 6, 2026. The training evolution demonstrated Storis’s ability to refuel other Coast Guard cutters while at anchor, enhancing operational flexibility and endurance for Coast Guard assets operating in remote Alaskan waters. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Maddox Holmes-Selby)

Oct. 6, Stratton conducted a simulated fueling-at-anchor evolution with USCGC Storis (WAGB 21) in Broad Bay, Alaska. This seems to be a capability the Coast Guard is developing, though notably, this was “simulated” so Stratton did not actually refuel from Storis.

The Canadian Navy vessel mentioned, HMCS Max Bernays (AOPV 432), is a DeWolf class Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS), a light icebreaker armed with a single 25mm Mk38 mount modified for the Arctic environment. She is one of six of this class in the Canadian Navy. Two of the class are being built for the Canadian Coast Guard.

Earlier in the year, March 29, Stratton completed a 79 day patrol in the Caribbean, a bit surprising for a cutter based in Alameda California. So she was away from home port 182 days this year.

Rear Adm. Dorothy Hernaez, the former CO of Stratton, has had an interesting career. Check out her background.

Found the above video very interesting. Not all of it is Coast Guard related, but an awful lot is including, USCG icebreakers, an over the horizon radar, potential oil spill in the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Canada’s icebreakers and Canadian view of Coast Guard transit of the North West Passage.

Thanks to Lee for bringing this to my attention. 

gCaptain has an editorial discussing problems with the new Mariner credentialing system.

Marine Link has an interesting post related to Port Security and Marine Inspection, two topics about which I am largely ignorant.

Indian and Vietnamese coast guard vessels conduct maneuvers during Exercise SAHYOG HOP-TAC in the Bay of Bengal in August 2026. INDIAN COAST GUARD

PACOM’s Indo-Pacific Defense Forum reports,

“India and Vietnam are advancing defense cooperation  across service branches, a broadening of ties that reflects sharpening security concerns and shared interests in regional stability and secure maritime routes.

“India-Vietnam military relations have shifted from strategic dialogue to deep, tactical integration,” Australia-based defense analyst Nguyen The Phuong told FORUM.

The nations agreed in May 2026 to upgrade relations to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the leaders of their coast guards met in India in August to discuss strengthening engagements and operational coordination.

The accompanying photo (above) speaks volumes for the utility of cooperation between Coast Guards as first steps toward good international relationships.

Both India and Vietnam have concerns regarding China. China’s “Nine Dash Line” results in disputes with Vietnam.

Nine Dash Line and EEZs. Source CIA

)Naval Battle between Vietnam and China here.)

Oryx O-16 USV. Exail picture.

Naval News reports,

LA CIOTAT, France — Exail unmanned surface vessels will soon take part in various test and evaluation campaigns in the United States. A DriX H-9 USV will be used by the U.S. Navy as a testbed for an unspecified counter-drone system while an Oryx O-16 USV will be evaluated by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Coast Guard specific:

The U.S. Coast Guard – which recently stood up a new drone procurement office and operating doctrine – is interested in the system. Company officials claim that Exail can deliver models of Oryx to customers within 12-18 months of the initial order. The Oryx O-16 is intended for long-duration offshore operations, persistent surveillance and anti-submarine warfare. It can carry heavy mission payloads, including towed sonars and equipment for underwater assets.