18 thoughts on “DCNS se positionne sur les futurs cotres de l’US Coast Guard (OPC 327 redux)”

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  3. Chuck,
    Get the Check book and credit card out. I think this is the OPC the US Coast Guard should be seriously be buying. I think this one should be a serious contender for any OPC designs the US Coast Guard buys to be built in the US.

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  4. Translated with Babelfish: Close enough to get the drift!
    The French naval group decided to position on the vast program of renewal of the means of l’ US Coast Guard. DCNS would target more particularly the project Maritime Security Cutter Medium (MSCM), before known under the name d’ Offshore oil rig Patrol Cutter (OPC). In order to replace the cutters of average autonomy of the Reliance type, in service since the Sixties, then the units of the Bear type, built in the Eighties, the American coastguards wish to order 25 new buildings. Length d’ a little more than 100 meters for a d’ displacement; approximately 3700 tons in load, the MSCM would enter in service as from 2019. At the end of June, with l’ occasion of the living room MAST Americas, which s’ is held at Washington DC, DCNS presented its last innovations safety maritime safety, of which a design of cutter called precisely OPC. Derived from the produced frigates jusqu’ here by the French group, this building wants to be at the same time robust and enduring, with an important autonomy. It lays out d’ a single mast, gathering the various sensors, a platform and a hangar for helicopter or drones, thus qu’ a turret of 57mm. For DCNS, it n’ is probably not question of directly selling this concept with l’ US Coast Guard and d’ in ensuring the realization in France. With l’ instar of what its Italian competitor Fincantieri did with Lockheed-Martin, the tricolour group seeks certainly with s’ to combine with an American industrialist so d’ to have its chances in the competition.

    Project MSCM forms d’ part; a vast program of renewal of the American coastguards. Two important shutters were already launched. The first door on the replacement of the 12 large cutters of my Hamilton class by 8 Maritime Security Cutter Broad (MSCL). Long for a displacement of 4300 tons in load, these buildings can 127.4 meters cross 12.000 nautical with 9 nodes. Armed d’ a gun of 57mm, four machine-guns of 12.7mm and a system Phalanx, they can embark two helicopters. The first of the series, Bertholf, entered in service in 2008 and the second (Waesche) this year. These buildings are built by Northrop Grumman in Pescagoula. L’ another program already launched is that of Fast Response Cutters (FRC). L’ US Coast Guard retained the type Stan Patrol 4708 of Dutch Damen. 34 units of 46.8 meters and 353 tons were ordered in September 2008, an option being open for 24 additional ships. These buildings (Sentinel class), produced under licence by the American building sites Bollinger, will replace the 41 patrol craft of the Island type. The first FRC, baptized Bernard C. Webber, was put on hold at last spring and must be delivered in 2011. Lastly, it will be noted that l’ US Coast Guard also modernizes its average aeronautics. Not less than 36 planes of maritime surveyance CN 235 To persuade d’ Airbus Military (called HC-144 Sentry Ocean in the USA), in particular, was ordered.

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  5. Thanks. Mark. Obviously they think they have a shot, since we have bought other European flavored products in the past (HH-65, HU-25, HC-144, Fast Response Cutter). It looks great, but they quote 3700 tons, which is larger than a 378. I have doubts the final choice will be that large. Still the 327s were 99 meters and “full figured” and they only displaced 2,656 full load. If the displacement is close to that I think they might have a shot.

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  6. Perhaps it’s not a bad thing that DCNS doesn’t already have a US partner to build the ship. It might be better if the Coast Guard contracted for a design, then owning the design and put it out for bids to build it. At least that way we would not be married to the low bidder for the first ship for the next 15 years. In any case we should own the design before we are ready to issue the second contract.

    Since we ought to be building three or more ships a year, owning the design would mean we could split the contract so yards that could not handle that volume could bid on only one or two ships. Then we would have real competition.

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    • Chuck,
      The US Coast Guard should buy the designs and blueprints from DCNS. Then put the bids out to the US Shipbuilders to build the cutters based on the US Coast Guard’s designs they brought from Europe. I do like this design of an OPC and I believe DNCS dose have a shot at getting the contract to design the OPC. DNCS should partner with a US shipbuilder to build the ship with DCNS being the designer of the cutter and the shipbuilder building the cutter.

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  8. Nicky, there is still a lot we don’t know about this design. Speed? How are they going to handle the competing demands for competing real estate on the stern between helo deck, boat launching, and towing capabilities? That’s not clear from the illustration. As you know, there are a lot of competing designs out there. I love that the hull lines look like a 327, but there is a lot to consider and the acquisition branch will need to work through the process. Even so, this design suggest that we might get a very good product from this project. Which ever design we choose, rights to the design should be a contract deliverable, so that we are not stuck with the same yard that builds the first ship for the life of this very long program.

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  9. Chuck,
    I believe the DCNS design is based upon these two french frigate designs, the Horizon class frigate and the FREMM multipurpose frigate. Here’s the links to the two French built frigates

    Horizon class frigate
    https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Horizon_CNGF

    FREMM multipurpose frigate
    https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/FREMM_multipurpose_frigate

    I think the US Coast Guard should be in a ship design shopping and shop around for a good design to buy from and then contract it out to US shipbuilders.

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  11. There are lots of potential candidates out there, and I’m sure the ship builders have been communicating with the acquisitions directorate. By any recent measure, this is a large ship building program, during a period when ship yards have been starving for work.

    Here is another candidate, 99 meters, built for Oman, from the same yards that built the ships for Trinidad and Tobago that we discussed earlier (http://cgblog.org/2010/09/27/possible-new-ships-at-a-bargin-price/ and http://cgblog.org/2010/10/14/possible-new-ships-at-a-bargain-price-another-alternative/)

    with a bit more description here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khareef_Class_Corvettes

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  12. The concept of the USCG buying a foreign design (with consulting from the original desiners), modifying it to fit is a good one. Fincatieri and Damen and TKMS as well as others should all be considered for designs they have existing. The competition then is amongst naval architecture firms and not amongst shipbuilders. A much less expensive proposition. Any problems with the modified design rests with the USCG.

    Then the plans would be bid out for strictly construction with Coast Guard doing its own logistics planning and purchases and the LSI lead systems integration both of which were big lessons learned from Deepwater.

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  13. Chuck,
    I believe the FREMM comes in four flavors, Anti Submarine, Anti Air, Land attack and General purpose. The US Coast Guard could go with the general purpose version of the FREMM that the Italians and Greeks are getting. I believe the General purpose version is a smaller version of FREMM and i think it’s perfectly suited for the US Coast Guard’s need for an OPC that can across the Atlantic and pacific oceans If need be. It has the speed to keep up with a Carrier battle group and even the amphibious battle group.

    It would be wise for the US Coast Guard to buy the designs and blue prints of the ships they want in their fleet. Then put the bid out for the shipyards to build the cutters based on the designs and blueprints the US Coast Guard brought from the designer. I would seriously look at European navies for OPC and frigate ships and base what they have for our OPC.

    FREMM – Rinascimento class – multipurpose frigate
    http://digilander.libero.it/en_mezzi_militari/html/en_fremm.html

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  15. Nicky at about 6,000 tons, the FREMM is much larger than even the NSC and even the FM400 at about 4,000 tons (the same size as the NSC) is still larger than anything we would choose for the OPC. Those designs are related to the design illustrated in the post, but are substantially larger. I still feel a bit uncomfortable with the stern boat launching method illustrated here: http://www.dcnsgroup.com/download.php?file=/files/pdf/FM400_en.pdf

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    • I think the FREMM 400 would be perfect as an OPC because we can automate some things on the cutter and even make it multipurpose OPC with capability to deploy overseas. It’s worth the USCG to take a look at the FREMM 400 and even get a scaled down version of the FREM 400. As for the stern, maybe we can get one with a stern launch instead of what they advertise

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