To no one’s surprise MarineLog reports that Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon, Quebec, Canada’s largest shipyard, has been selected as the third shipyard partner in Canada’s “National Shipbuilding Strategy” and will build six icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.
I am passing this along, but have to say that, since this came out Dec. 20, 2019, it seems a bit confusing. The significant news is that the Request for Proposal is expected to be issued by the end of the year.
Dec. 20, 2019 — 
The Coast Guard released a draft request for proposal (RFP) for industry studies Dec. 4 to support offshore patrol cutter (OPC) follow-on production. Responses to the draft industry studies RFP will be used to inform development of a final RFP, which is scheduled for release before the end of calendar year 2019.
Today’s action complements the release of the Coast Guard’s draft statement of work (SOW) for OPC industry studies. The draft RFP and SOW are available at the following here.
The Coast Guard also announced that the service will host an OPC Industry Day on Dec. 11, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. EST at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland.
The industry day announcement can be found at the following here.
An RSVP is required to attend. Attendees must RSVP no later than 12:00 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. Please see the industry day announcement for detailed RSVP instructions and location information.
The Coast Guard’s overall goal for the OPC Industry Day is to refresh awareness and understanding of industry capabilities and provide an opportunity for potential offerors to gain insight into OPC industry studies and other follow-on acquisition activities. The industry studies draft RFP will be a focal point of the industry day event; attendees are strongly encouraged to review the contents of the draft RFP and come prepared to discuss it with Coast Guard officials.
Addendum: The Coast Guard updated the Industry Day announcement Dec. 13, 2019, based on discussions with interested vendors.
Addendum: The Coast Guard released a revised draft RFP Dec. 20, 2019, in support of the OPC follow-on production, based on discussions with interested vendors.
For more information: Offshore Patrol Cutter program page
A petty officer pulls another to safety during a 2015 active shooter exercise at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, N.J. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard (Lauren Simmons)
The Dec. 2019 edition of the US Naval Institute Proceedings has an article expressing concern about the Coast Guard’s readiness to deal with active-shooter/hostile-event response (ASHER)? The article is available on line and is written by Commander Thomas J. Hughes, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired), currently head of the Exercise Support Division of Coast Guard Force Readiness Command as a career Federal employee.
It is thought provoking. How much time, money, training, and priority is appropriate in the face of competing demands?
The US Naval Institute news service reports the House has passed the Department of Homeland Security budget including,
“The FY 2020 total is $49.8 million less than what the service received a year ago but is $846.7 million more than what was initially proposed in President Donald Trump’s FY 2020 budget request, according to a statement from the House Appropriations Committee.”
The 2020 budget request was discussed here. The FY2019 budget as enacted is discussed here.
It is worth noting that this bill has already been coordinated with the Senate, so it should advance without significant changes.
“The funding was part of a $1.4 trillion spending bill Senate and House negotiators created that avoids a possible federal government shutdown at the end of this week. The spending bill still needs Senate approval and Trump’s signature before becoming law.”
The Good News:
As expected the Congress bumped up the purchase of Webber class patrol craft from two units to four. ($140M requested, $260M in the bill, the FY 2019 budget provided six units for $360M). Congress has been pretty consistent in increasing the number purchased annually. This will fund FRCs #57-60. That leaves only four more units to complete the expected 64 total units anticipated for the class (58 in the program of record and six for PATFORSWA).
An additional $100M for long lead time items for the second Polar Security Cutter was added.
Congress also added another $105M for the HC-130J program. Congress also has a history of doing this as well. A similar amount was in the FY2019 budget.
The Bad News:
The total amount in the budget is less than FY2019, and that was less than FY2018. That trend is not good.
Since the requested amount for Procurement, Construction, and Improvements (PC&I) was $1.2B, it seems likely that even with these additions, the total Budget may be well under both the $2M the Coast Guard has been saying they need annually and last year’s $2,248.26M total, but we will not know for sure until we get more detail.
There is no provision for a much talked about National Security Cutter #12, even though money was included in the FY2019 budget for long lead time items for #12.
The Not Unexpected:
The requested amount for the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program, $457 million for the construction of OPC #3 as well as long lead time materials for OPCs #4 and #5, was cut by $14M. That may represent nothing more than deletion of long lead time materials for OPC #5. Construction of #5 is now in the distant future, since the decision to grant Eastern Contract Relief and re-compete the contract for OPCs #5-15. This does seem to indicate Congress will allow DHS and the Coast Guard to continue with contract relief and that Eastern will construct the first four OPCs as previously announced.
Image Analysis of photo of Chinese shipyard showing multiple warships at various stages of … [+]H I Sutton, with permission from @Loongnaval, (This is not a naval base just one of several shipyards-Chuck)
We did discuss this earlier, “Comparison, the Chinese Navy of 2030 and USN.”
The Chinese have begun building large surface combatants (destroyers and/or cruisers) at rate faster than that of the US (The US generally commissions two per year). The number the Chinese are expected to have commissioned in 2019 and 2020, as many as twelve, is staggering. Their first very large aircraft carrier equipped with catapults and arresting gear is expected to be commissioned in 2022, only three years after their first (smaller) domestically built aircraft carrier (The US builds one every five years). They seem to have begun building large amphibious warfare landing ships at about the same rate as the US. In addition they have built types with no counterpart in the US Navy including 60 Type 022 missile armed fast attack craft and Type 056 corvettes, 64 ordered to date, with about 8 built per year. They also have about 60 conventionally powered submarines and about 54 frigates while the US has neither type currently.
The Maritime Vessel Stopping Occlusion Technologies, or MVSOT, team at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division investigates natural hagfish slime as an inspiration for a non-lethal capability (Credit: NAVSEA/Courtesy)
Naval News reports that the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division has been working on non-lethal ways to stop or slow vessels that appear to be behaving in a threatening manner.
Non-lethal means of stopping, or at least slowing, a ship are always interesting.
Defense News has a story about the Congress authorizing sale of Coast Defense and Anti-Ship missiles to the Ukraine.
A surprising comment was that these might be fitted on the 110 foot WPBs that have been transferred to Ukraine
Speaking at the German Marshall Fund on Friday, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, indicated that the weapons would be ideal fits for a pair of Island-class patrol boats Ukraine has received from Washington.
Those boats were “supplied without anything on them,” said Kuleba, the first member of the current Ukrainian government to visit Washington. “So we will continue working on obtaining more boats of that class, and hopefully with some of the equipment you mentioned.”
This might refer to Harpoon, but I think it is more likely that this is in reference to the Naval Strike Missile which has already been used in land based coast defense batteries.
Frankly, I think Ukraine would be better off truck mounting the missiles, in that they would be harder to target, but since many nations will be receiving retired Island class WPBs, a standard conversion might be desired by a number of nations.
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star cuts through Antarctic ice in the Ross Sea near a large group of seals as the ship’s crew creates a navigation channel for supply ships, January 16, 2017. The resupply channel is an essential part of the yearly delivery of essential supplies to the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station.US Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer David Mosley
A news release. Dec. 20 is a very short deadline.
The Coast Guard released a request for information (RFI) Nov. 27 seeking industry input and feedback on the draft solicitation for the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star service life extension project (SLEP) as part of the In-Service Vessel Sustainment program (ISVS). The SLEP effort will recapitalize a number of major systems and extend the service life of the cutter by approximately four years. This future contract will include SLEP work items and recurring maintenance in a five-year phased production schedule between 2021 and 2025.
The RFI is available here. The deadline to submit responses is Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. EST.
Polar Star, the Coast Guard’s only active heavy icebreaker, is scheduled to conduct ice breaking operations to create an ice channel for which cargo vessels will be escorted to resupply the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica. This marks the seventh time the cutter has been at the center of Operation Deep Freeze since the cutter was reactivated in 2013.
The 399-foot cutter – commissioned in 1976 – supports nine of the 11 Coast Guard statutory missions.
For more information: In-Service Vessel Sustainment program page
I am just passing this along. I confess I have not read beyond the executive summary and I will not be commenting on it. Comments are still welcome, but I have been too long out of the service to comment meaningfully.
Thanks to Brymar Consulting for bringing this to my attention.
German Customs 24 meter patrol boat. Photo by Jarek Jõepera
Bairdmaritime reports delivery of three new 24 meter patrol boats designed and built for Germany’s Customs Agency.
A unique aspect of the design is the bow. We have seen other novel bow designs, including the Ulstein X-bow and the Damen Axe-bow. These bows reduce pitch compared to conventional bow designs, but unless the foc’sle is raised, these designs tend to be wet forward. There is also a very unique bow on the new Italian Patrol Frigate.
Additional advantages of the longer waterline, that comes with extending the bow forward, can be increased speed or improved fuel efficiency.
My gut feeling is, I like the look of this particular bow. The idea seems to be that when a swell rises up over the wedge shape we see just above the waterline, it generates a down force, counteracting to some extent the normal tendency of the bow to lift, reducing pitch much of the time. But unlike a axe bow, there is still a flare to the bow that would tend to keep the bow above the green water when conditions get really bad. Looks like it might be worth a look, and maybe some testing.
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