Author Archives: Chuck Hill

US Navy Securing the Southern Border?

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USCGC Valiant (WMEC 621) crew moors at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, June 6, 2025. The Valiant crew offloaded more than $132 million in illicit drugs interdicted in the Caribbean Sea. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Diana Sherbs)

Below the line is a Coast Guard News release. 

It includes a report of offload of drugs seized by USS Gravely.

Since March the Navy has kept two or three ships deployed to “secure the Southern Border” against illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

Departures of US Navy destroyers were widely reported, frequently with implications that the Coast Guard had not been paying attention to the Southern border or that the Coast Guard was incapable. Center for Strategic and International Studies stated,

First and foremost, the deployments send a powerful signal that the United States is taking border security, and the Western Hemisphere more broadly, seriously. In a statement from U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) upon deployment of the Spruance, the ships will “restore territorial integrity at the U.S. southern border” and will support operations related to “combating maritime related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration.” The tasking of some of the United States’ most exquisite naval capabilities to support Southwest border operations accordingly provides yet another indicator that a strategic pivot to the Western Hemisphere in general, and the U.S.-Mexico border in particular, is well underway.

The DDGs are marvelous ships as demonstrated by their performance against the Houthis in the Red Sea. Their more sophisticated sensors were also touted, but the results have been underwhelming.

Results:

So what happened? Let’s give credit where credit is due.

Guided missile destroyers involved, as far as I can determine, have been USS Gravely, USS Spruance, USS Stockdale which replaced Spruance in mid April, USS Cole which very recently replace Gravely, and Sampson which just replaced Stockdale.

As far as I can tell, the interdiction of 840 pounds of cocaine valued $13.7M by USS Gravely, which deployed March 15, reported below, is the only interception of drugs reported by a destroyer in the almost three months since their intervention began.

By comparison:

USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS-21) which deployed March 25 has made three interdictions. USS Charleston Deployed May 21. I presume she is replacing Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The first two resulted in seizure of 580 kilograms (1,279 pounds) of cocaine valued at $9,463,860 and 1,125 kilograms (2,480 pounds) of marijuana valued at $2,807,360. I was not able to find similar figures for the third.

In an earlier post I posted the results of drugs landed on thirteen different occasions from February 13 to May 2, 2025 comparing interdictions in the Eastern Pacific with those made in the Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean. In total 168,574 pounds or more than 84 tons, valued at $1,702.9 million. There have been additional offloads since then including the one below.

That is 196 times as much as was seized by Navy Destroyers. Only a very small part of which was marijuana rather than cocaine, none of which was seized in the Eastern Pacific. Notably no Fentanyl was included.

Our Canadian and Netherlands Navy partners each seized more contraband than the US Navy this period.

Why the poor showing?:

Functionally the DDGs should have been at least as effective as other units doing this mission, so why weren’t they more effective?

I think because they were looking in the wrong place.

Early announcements seem to indicate they primarily being deployed primarily to interdict immigrants with drug interdiction a secondary mission, but as I noted in the earlier post,

Perhaps surprisingly, cutters in the Western Atlantic areas looking for drugs don’t intercept many migrants and cutters looking for migrants don’t find much in the way of drugs or even migrants. There were four WMEC patrols identified as looking for migrants. None of the four found any drugs. One intercepted no migrants. The three remaining patrols intercepted a total of 184.

The West coast deployment seems to have been in vicinity of San Diego. Most drug interdictions in the Pacific happen off the Central and South American coast.

There has been something of a surge in maritime illegal migrant interdictions on the West Coast but they have been concentrated close to shore near San Diego and the Mexican border, using recreational style small craft, but the totals are still relatively small.

As far as I have heard (and I think I would have) none of the US Navy ships have intercepted any immigrants.

Other thoughts:

Any assistance the Navy might provide is always welcome, but any implication that the Coast Guard has not been working the problem with considerable success, limited only by resources available, is unfair. There simply is no such thing as 100% secure.

The Navy has also provided additional ISR resources. Both the Navy and Coast Guard can only benefit from better Maritime Domain Awareness even if the information is used for different purposes.

Having an alert, active DDG positioned off US naval bases (like San Diego) might be a good idea since, as yet, we really have no land based missile defenses capable of countering cruise missiles that might be launched from container ships in an initial surprise attack.

June 6, 2025

Coast Guard offloads more than $138 million in illicit drug interdictions in Caribbean Sea

Coast Guard Seventh District – 786-367-7649

MIAMI –U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Valiant’s crew offloaded 17,450 pounds of cocaine and 2,585 pounds of marijuana worth $132 million, Friday, at Port Everglades.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous crew offloaded approximately 840 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $6.2 million, Thursday, at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach.

The seized contraband was the result of six interdictions in the Caribbean Sea by Coast Guard and interagency partners.

“I am incredibly proud of our Valiant team and how they exemplify American values. They sacrifice time away from their families and when necessary, put themselves in harm’s way to secure our borders and protect the American people,” said Cmdr. Matthew Press, commanding officer of Valiant. “Collaborating with the United States Navy, Royal Canadian, and Royal Netherlands Navies, our multinational team disrupted transnational criminal organizations making the world a safer place.”

On May 19, a maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious vessel approximately 85 miles north of Aruba. Valiant’s crew interdicted the vessel and seized approximately 2,645 pounds of cocaine.

On May 22, a maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious vessel approximately 170 miles north of Aruba. Valiant’s crew interdicted the vessel and seized approximately 7,750 pounds of cocaine.

On May 25, a maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious vessel approximately 290 miles south of the Dominican Republic. USS Gravely’s crew and embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 401 interdicted the vessel and seized approximately 840 pounds of cocaine. The narcotics were transferred to the Vigorous.

On May 29, a maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious vessel approximately 140 miles south of the Dominican Republic. His Majesty’s Canadian Ship William Hall’s crew and embarked Coast Guard LEDET 103 interdicted the vessel and seized approximately 750 pounds of cocaine. The narcotics were transferred to the Valiant.

On May 29, a maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious vessel approximately 15 miles north of Venezuela. The Royal Netherlands Navy ship HNLMS Friesland crew and embarked Coast Guard LEDET 404 interdicted the vessel and seized approximately 4,050 pounds of cocaine and 2,585 pounds of marijuana. The narcotics were transferred to the Valiant.

On May 31, a maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious vessel approximately 185 miles north of Colombia. HMCS William Hall’s crew and embarked Coast Guard LEDET 103 interdicted the vessel and seized approximately 2,250 pounds of cocaine. The narcotics were transferred to the Valiant.

The following crews assisted with interdiction operations:

Detecting and interdicting illicit drug traffickers on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination. Joint Interagency Task Force-South, in Key West, conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Once an interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard for the interdiction and apprehension phases. Interdictions in the Caribbean Sea are performed by members of the U.S. Coast Guard under the authority and control of the Seventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Miami.

These interdictions relate to Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces’ Strike Force initiatives and designated investigations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

USCGC Valiant is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Jacksonville under U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command.

USCGC Vigorous is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Virginia Beach, Virginia under U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command.

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Center for Maritime Strategy

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The Center for Maritime Strategy is a relatively recent addition to my Recommended Blogs list, but it does seem to have some thoughtful posts directly related to the Coast Guard. Here are a couple you might find interesting.

“Charting a Course U.S., Partners increasing engagements throughout Pacific” –Indo-Pacific Defense Forum

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The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane conducts a February 2024 patrol for Operation Blue Pacific, which included combating illegal fishing with local partners. SENIOR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER CHARLY TAUTFEST/U.S. COAST GUARD

The Indo-Pacific Defense Forum has a nice overview of Coast Guard cooperative operations in the Western Pacific.

The significance, for me, is that the article is published by the Indo-Pacific Combatant Commander, and is intended for an international audience. This is affirmation of the importance of the effort.

This Day in Coast Guard History, June 9

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Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

June 9

1910  Congress passed the Motor Boat Act (Public Law 61-201, 36 Stat. 462).  The Federal authority to regulate uninspected vessels originated with the passage of this Act, which established standards with respect to navigation lights, machinery requirements, life preservers, and for the licensing of operators on small vessels (under 65-feet in length) carrying passengers.  It applied only to vessels “that are propelled by machinery other than steam.”

Lt. Jack C. Rittichier, HONORED ON PANEL 58W, LINE 14 OF THE WALL, born 08/17/1933, killed in action 06/09/1968, QUANG TRI Province, Vietnam

1968  LT Jack C. Rittichier was shot down and killed in action along with his Air Force crew while flying a combat SAR mission as an exchange pilot with the Air Force’s 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARRS) in Vietnam.

Galveston, TX–Coast Guard, tugboats, and fireboats attempt to out a fire that engulf the Swedish motor tanker Mega Borg after it exploded 60 miles southeast of Galveston, TX. USCG photo by KALNBACH, CHUCK PA1

1990  The 853-foot Norwegian tanker Mega Borg exploded near Galveston, Texas, killing two of her crew.  Coast Guard units consisting of 500 Coast Guardsmen fought the fires and cleaned up the resulting oil spill.  The units included CGCs Buttonwood, Point Spencer, Steadfast, Valiant, and Cushing.  Steadfast became the on-scene commander and maintained communications between the operations center at MSO Galveston and personnel fighting the fire.  Salvia worked with Navy skimmers seven miles from shore in the Sabine Pass area.  The Atlantic and Pacific Strike Teams brought people and equipment from across the country and MSOs in Houston, Mobile, Morgan City, New Orleans, and Port Arthur sent personnel to assist MSO Galveston.

2001  Coast Guard Group Operations Center in Galveston, Texas, was inundated with calls for assistance after Tropical Storm Allison dumped over 36 inches of rain in a three-day period, causing massive flooding in and around Houston.  Coast Guard flood punts and helicopters rescued over 220 persons.

2009  The U.S. Coast Guard’s first National Security Cutter, Bertholf (WMSL 750), conducted a structural test fire of its missile decoy launching system in the Southern California Operations Area of the Pacific Missile Range Facilit. The crew of CGC Bertholf, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, and the Navy Research Lab successfully launched two rounds from the Nulka Anti-Ship Missile Defense System.  These MK-234 Nulka rounds hover in the air while attracting incoming anti-ship missiles.  This is the first time that a Nulka round has been launched from a Coast Guard cutter. The successful completion of the test fire was the first phase of the crew’s two-month multi-mission patrol which includes a counter drug patrol in the Eastern Pacific under the tactical control of Commander, Joint Interagency Task Force South for detection and monitoring, and under the tactical control of Commander, Coast Guard District Eleven for interdiction and apprehension.

The U.S. Coast Guard high endurance cutter USCGC Gallatin (WHEC-721) lies tied up at a pier at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, during exercise “Ocean Venture ’88”, on 30 March 1988.

2013  CGC Gallatin returned to homeport of Charleston, South Carolina following a successful three-and-a-half month patrol in counter-drug missions, search and rescue, maritime exercises, and community outreach.  Gallatin’s counterdrug operations for this patrol resulted in the collective seizure of more than 2,200 pounds of cocaine and 3,500 lbs. of marijuana.  Gallatin’s  patrol highlights include: three cocaine seizures and four go-fast vessel disruptions; transfer of marijuana seized May 10 by a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment aboard the Royal Netherlands Navy Vessel HNMLS Friesland; search and rescue mission of passengers aboard a sinking panga March 15; maritime exercises and professional exchange missions with Dutch Naval Vessel HNMLS Friesland and U.S. Navy’s Mayport, Florida-based HSV Swift; and port calls in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Bocas Del Toro, Panama; and Roatan, Honduras. During the port calls, Gallatin’s crew enthusiastically worked several community outreach projects which included ship tours for more than 400 school children and their teachers in Guantanamo Bay and Roatan.  The crew also painted, plumbed, and did electrical work in local hospitals and churches.

HNLMS Friesland (P842), a Holland-class offshore patrol vessel operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy, moors at Naval Air Station Key West’s Mole Pier.

 

This Day in Coast Guard History, June 8

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Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

June 8

1882  The sloop-rigged yacht Circe, of Cleveland, was dismasted at 1 o’clock in the afternoon about a mile outside of Cleveland Harbor.  The crew of Station No. 8, Ninth District (Cleveland), discovered the accident and towed her safely into the harbor.

On 8 June 1973, OCS Class 2-73 graduated from their training at Yorktown, Virginia.
The entire class was twenty-nine strong. In their ranks at graduation for the first time were five women. One of those women graduates was Margaret R. Riley. During
her thirty-year career CAPT Riley served as the Executive Officer of the Integrated
Support Command, Boston, Massachusetts and was later assigned to the Coast
Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. She also served as the Commanding Officer
of the Supply Center, Baltimore, Maryland; and the Commanding Officer of the
Integrated Support Command, Boston and retired in 2003 as Director of the
Leadership Development Center at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London,
Connecticut. CAPT Riley died in January 2008 following a long illness.

1973  The first women since World War II graduated from the Reserve Officer Candidate Program (OCS) and were commissioned ensigns.  They trained aboard CGC Unimak for a two-week cruise, thereby becoming the first women to see service afloat.

USCGC Unimak (WHEC-379) underway, 8 June 1987. US Coast Guard photo

 

This Day in Coast Guard History, June 7

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Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

June 7

1902  The Alaskan Game Law was  passed and it was to be enforced by the Revenue Cutter Service “on request” of the Secretary of Agriculture.  It was not effectively enforced by Coast Guard until 1925, however.

1924  Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act and the enforcement responsibility was assigned to the Coast Guard.

An over-the-horizon-IV cutter boat from Coast Guard Cutter Valiant transports people and their
belongings from St. Thomas to the cutter during Hurricane Irma relief efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands Sept. 12, 2017. Valiant crewmembers transported more than 95 adults, children and pets that day. U.S. Coast Guard photo

2011  The Coast Guard awarded four firm fixed-price production contracts to deliver the first test boats for the seven-meter Cutter Boat Over-The-Horizon-IV (CB-OTH-IV) project.  The contracts were awarded to MetalCraft Marine U.S. (Clayton, New York), SAFE Boats International (Port Orchard, Washington), Silver Ships, Inc. (Theodore, Alabama), and William E. Munson Company (Burlington, Washington).  The Coast Guard planned to acquire up to 71 seven-meter CB-OTH-IVs.  The acquisition also included up to 20 boats for Customs and Border Protection and 10 boats for the U.S. Navy, for a total of up to 101 boats.  SAFE Boats won the competition.

“Lawmakers decry DHS secretary’s push to slash Coast Guard infrastructure budget by 90%” –Stars and Stripes

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State of Coast Guard shore side Infrastructure FY2023

Stars and Stripes reports,

Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, wants to slash the Coast Guard’s shore infrastructure budget by 90% … Noem has proposed $21 million for fiscal 2026, which begins Oct. 1, to repair and maintain the Coast Guard’s shore infrastructure — a fraction of the more than $400 million that the service received in 2024. But a federal watchdog reported in March that the Coast Guard would need at least $7 billion to fix its shore infrastructure, which includes family housing and barracks, boat stations, piers, lighthouses, firing ranges, airfields, and Coast Guard shipyards.

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/branches/coast_guard/2025-06-05/coast-guard-budget-noem-18023552.html
Source – Stars and Stripes

You can see the GAO report referenced in the article here.

Thanks to MikeB for bringing this to my attention. 

Construction on OPCs #3 and #4 Suspended

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Maritime Executive reports,

The U.S. Coast Guard, which has been struggling with its new ship efforts, has reportedly placed a temporary stop work order on two cutters under construction in its Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Class. Reports of the pause come a day after the Department of Homeland Security announced it had canceled a contract for another cutter in its Legend-class national security cutter and the Department has promised to overhaul the operations of the USCG under its Force Design 2028 project.

News of the pause was reported by Defense Daily which wrote that work on the third and fourth vessels underway at Eastern Shipbuilding is being delayed as issues regarding funding and delays in the timing of the program are underway. Work on the third cutter, to be named, Ingham, has been underway since mid-2022 when the keel was laid, and steel cutting is underway for number four, USCG Rush.

We have noted already that Eastern seems to have had problem. Note, at this point, this is not a cancellation as happens with NSC#11 yesterday. But it looks like it may be a prelude to negotiations that may lead to cancellation, in that it puts these two ships into a status similar to that of NSC#11 prior to the cancellation.

Thanks to Andy for bringing this to my attention.

This Day in Coast Guard History, June 6

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Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

June 6

1900  Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to establish anchorage grounds at Kennebec River, Maine.

U.S. Revenue Service cutter Manning, crowded with Kodiak residents seeking safety during the 1912 eruption of Novarupta, which resulted in about a foot of ashfall on Kodiak over nearly three days. The photograph was published in Griggs, 1922, and was taken by J.F. Hahn, U.S.R.S.

1912  The Novarupta-Katmai Volcano erupted near Kodiak, Alaska, from June 6-9, 1912.  Revenue Cutter Manning and other cutters as well as personnel assisted in relief efforts, including providing fresh water to the inhabitants of Kodiak, distributing relief supplies, and building a new village for the displaced inhabitants.  The new village was named Perry after the commanding officer of Manning, Revenue Captain K. W. Perry, USRCS.  Captain Perry also established a refugee camp for persons displaced by the falling ash.

Photo by J. B. Weed from the collection of Arthur Heinickle

US Coast Guard 83-foot rescue boat CGC-16 transferring wounded troops to USS Joseph T. Dickman APA-13 off of Normandy France at 0930 local time on D-Day – June 6, 1944
One account;
“The relatively small cutter could only hold about 20 wounded men at a time, and double that number were often taken aboard. But in one instance, 140 men shared 1,000 square feet. Casualties and unwounded survivors crammed the forecastle, pilot house, and engine room, and those incapable of going below lined the deck topside, side by side. Walking wounded were jammed into the tiny crew’s quarters and piled into bunks in three tiers of four.”
LIFE Magazine Archives – Ralph Morse Photographer

1944  Nearly 100 Coast Guard cutters, Coast Guard-manned warships and landing craft participated in the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe at Normandy, France.  The Coast Guard-manned landing craft LCI(L)s-85, 91, 92, and 93 were lost at the Omaha beachhead that day.  Sixty cutters sailed in support of the invasion forces as well, acting as search and rescue craft for each of the five landing beaches.  A Coast Guard manned assault transport, the USS Bayfield, served as the command and control vessel for the landings at Utah Beach.  Coast Guard officers commanded one of the assault groups that landed troops on Omaha Beach that morning.

A convoy of Landing Craft Infantry (Large) sails across the English Channel toward the Normandy Invasion beaches on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Each of these landing craft is towing a barrage balloon for protection against low-flying German aircraft. Among the LCI(L)s present are: LCI(L)-56, at far left; LCI(L)-325; and LCI(L)-4. Photograph from the U.S. Coast Guard Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

LCI(L) 85 shortly before she sank, D-Day, 6 June 1944.

LCI-93 Omah beach

1945  Coast Guard-manned USS Sheepscot (AOG-24) went aground and was lost off Iwo Jima. No lives were lost.

USS Sheepscot (AOG-24) under way, August 1944, location unknown. Sheepscot is painted camouflage scheme 32/8AO.
US Navy photo

1977  Coast Guard recruiting officers were directed to advise all women applicants that women were “now subject to possible assignments to sea and isolated duty.  In line with this change in policy, all women enlisted personnel who are approaching reenlistment, and all women officers reaching three years of service before an extension/integration board, should be aware that they too will be subject to unrestricted assignments to sea and isolated duty as the needs of the Coast Guard require,” according to a Coast Guard official announcement.

USCGC Polar Sea

1985  CGC Polar Sea departed Seattle for a voyage through the Northwest Passage by way of the Panama Canal, the east coast, and then Greenland, sparking an international incident with Canada.  She completed the first solo circumnavigation of the North American continent by a U.S. vessel and the first trip by a Polar-Class icebreaker.  She also captured the record for the fastest transit of the historic northern route.  She arrived back in Seattle on October 27, 1985.

Golden Venture

1993  The 150-foot tramp steamer Golden Venture ran aground on Rockaway beach in New York with some 300 illegal Chinese migrants on board.  Ten drowned or died of hypothermia, six vanished, and the rest were rescued by the Coast Guard and local agencies.

An over-the-horizon-IV cutter boat from Coast Guard Cutter Valiant transports people and their
belongings from St. Thomas to the cutter during Hurricane Irma relief efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands Sept. 12, 2017. Valiant crewmembers transported more than 95 adults, children and pets that day. U.S. Coast Guard photo

2013  The Coast Guard today placed an order for sixteen Cutter Boat-Over the Horizon-IVs (CB-OTH-IV) and associated parts and logistics information from SAFE Boats International LLC of Bremerton, Washington.

Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point aircrews conduct flight formations in the soon to be retired HC-130H Hercules airplane. The HC-130H model has been assigned to the unit since 1959 and is being replaced by the HC-130J model. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Cmdr. Scott Handlin)

2023  A Coast Guard team from AIRSTA Barbers Point returned from a mission supporting storm relief efforts on Guam following Typhoon Mawar. CG District 14 reported 31 Coast Guard personnel out of AIRSTA Barbers Point, supported by three aircraft, clocked 97.3 hours of flight time, transported 396,231 pounds of cargo and 169 passengers. During their relief efforts the team completed 19 “vital missions” across 33 sorties. A major task for the Barbers Point team was delivering supplies to Rota, an island of about 1,890 people in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands — a U.S. territory neighboring Guam that was also hit by the typhoon.

National Security Cutter #11 Cancelled

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USCGC Calhoun (NSC#10) arrives Charleston.

Below the line is a news release from the Department of Homeland Security. I have to admit I did not see this coming.

Huntington Ingalls Industries reported they had begun construction May 11, 2021. That was four years ago. Four years is typically about how long it takes to build a ship.

Maritime Executive reports, “construction of the 11th ship had been halted since at least November 2024 with the ship 15 percent complete.” Delivery had been expected in 2024.

The entire program has been slow. One ship was commissioned in 2008, one in 2010, one in 2012, one in 2014, one in 2015, one in 2017, two in 2019, one in 2021, but then CALHOUN was not commissioned until 2024. A three year gap in what was presumably a mature program, what happened? I had heard the National Security Cutters may have had some problems, but the only specific I had heard is that they had cooling problems maintaining maximum speed if the sea temperature was too high.

US Naval Institute News notes that existing National Security Cutters have had problems with parts shortage, “Ingalls spokeswoman Kimberly Aguillard told USNI News in a Thursday statement. ‘In mutual agreement with the USCG, we have signed a contract modification that identifies an alternate strategy related to the sunsetting of the NSC program, which has already exceeded the original acquisition objective of eight ships. Rather than proceeding with construction of the eleventh ship of the NSC class, we have agreed to execute a plan that maximizes readiness of the existing NSC fleet, by supporting overall operational availability and capability of the first ten NSCs in service.’”

Obviously this is the final nail in the coffin for any hope of NSC#12.

What does this move mean for the OPC program which actually seems to have had more problems than the NSC program? The construction contract for the first OPC was issued September 2018 and delivery was expected 2021. It has been 20 months since the future USCGC Argus was launched but still not only no delivery, no pictures of the ship underway, Also no reports of progress on the other three ships Eastern was contracted to build.

Secretary Noem Saves American Taxpayers Hundreds of Millions by Negotiating New Contract for the Coast Guard

Release Date: June 5, 2025

DHS is revolutionizing national security while saving the taxpayer over $260 million

WASHINGTON – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that she successfully saved the American taxpayer over $260 million by cancelling a failing U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) shipbuilding project.

Shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls (HII) began production of a Legend-class National Security Cutter (NSC) in May 2021. It was supposed to be delivered by 2024 at the latest but is still nowhere near complete.

“This is about fulfilling President Trump’s commitment to the American taxpayer,” said Secretary Noem. “Huntington Ingalls owed us this cutter over a year ago. As the Trump administration is revitalizing the U.S. Coast Guard through Force Design 2028, we need to be smart with the American taxpayer’s money. This project was over time and over budget. Now the money can be redirected to ensuring the Coast Guard remains the finest, most-capable maritime service in the world. I would like to extend my thanks to Huntington Ingalls for negotiating in good faith.”

In addition to returning over $260 million to the U.S. Treasury, the Coast Guard will receive $135 million in parts that will be used to retrofit, upgrade, and maintain the Coast Guard’s existing fleet of 10 Legend-class cutters. By cancelling the production of NSC #11 and securing the parts deal with HII, Secretary Noem has ensured that the Treasury will recoup the remaining funds for use where they are most needed.