Philipine Rajah Sulayman-class offshore patrol vessel

Just to review.

• Fleet the new generation of ships was supposed to replace included 12 WHECs, 32 WMECs, and 49 WPB 110s or 93 ships including 44 large patrol ships.
• The “Program of Record” was to give us 8 NSCs, 25 OPC, and 58 FRCs, a total of 91 ships but only 33 large patrol ships.
• The shortfall in large patrol ship was to be made up by the magic of the “CREW ROTATION CONCEPT,” having four crews for every three ships so we could  keep the ships underway 33% more and 33 ships could do the work of 44.
• The “CREW ROTATION CONCEPT” was killed in the FY2019 budget cycle
• Two addition NSCc and many FRCs have been added, but the current plan is now only 35 large cutters leaving us with far fewer large cutter days. Currently I think we are down to 32 large cutters.
• OPCs are more expensive and require a larger crew than originally projected. They were originally expected to have a crew of about 90 and to cost about half as much as the NSCs.
• Crew size for NSCs has also grown and of course crew size for FRCs are considerably greater than that of the 110 and 87 foot WPCs they are replacing.
• Meanwhile the Coast Guard budget has declined $5.1 billion in a decade in real terms.

Since 2012 I have been advocating for a mid-sized patrol cutter between the 4500 ton OPCs and the 353 ton Webber class that I have called Cutter X. The Philippine Navy is acquiring a new class of six Offshore Patrol Vessels built by South Korean ship builder  Hyundai Heavy Industries. These 2400 ton ships are an example of what can be achieved on that kind of intermediate displacement.

Now I think we have an additional reason for developing a new class. We need a design that is more readily usable as a warship since conflict appears more likely. (In some ways I like the 2600 ton Damen designed Pakistan Navy OPV–faster and better armed.).

These are what I would call prototypical modern OPVs, good examples of the type. They are little more than half the size of NSCs or OPCs, but they are significant improvements over the 210 and 270s. They are large enough to perform typical large patrol cutter peacetime missions, but do it more economically the than an OPC both in terms of initial procurement and operating cost.

One feature I like that sets them apart from most OPVs is the mission bay below the flight deck. This could be used for disaster response equipment, as a holding area for migrants, or for a towed array during war time.

There is a good description of the Philippine OPV and its origin in Wikipedia. Their specs:

As for for characteristic of my more militant Cutter X, I would say:

• Speed at least 24 knots,
• Weapons: 8 cell Mk41 VLS; SeaRAM, two 30mm Mk38 Mod4
• Aviation: H-60 helicopter and spaces to support ASW version including torpedo magazine and sonobuoy stores; additional space for ISR UAS such as V-Bat
• Boats: Peace time normally one Long Range interceptor on stern ramp in the mission bay and two OTH on davits.
• Mission Bay at least large enough for Long Range Interceptor in peacetime and towed array sonar system in wartime.