Photo: JGSDF LR-2 in Okadama STA.

NavyRecognition is reporting the Selex ES, a Finmeccanica company has developed an integrated sensor package to convert the KingAir 350ER (extended range) into a Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

This isn’t the first time this airfame has been used as a maritime patrol aircraft. It is used by several navies and coast guards including Japan and Malta. It is also used by the Argentine Navy, Ecuadorian Navy, and Indian Boarder Security. (A flight report on the civilian version is here.)

The Beech King Air is used by all four DOD armed forces under the designation C-12. including a new MC-12 ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) aircraft deployed to Afghanistan. It is also used by the FAA and by NOAA,

Perhaps most significantly, the type is also being used to recapitalize the Customs and Border Protection air fleet and includes an air to air intercept as well as maritime surface search radar capability.

In some respects, this might fill the void in the Coast Guard’s aviation program left by deferment of the land based UAV program. With performance similar to the HC-144, lower operating costs, and endurance of up to twelve hours, while it may not have the ultimate endurance of some UAVs, it has a greater useful load than all but the largest UAVs and consequently can carry more capable sensors, and would require no special dispensation, to function in the national airspace, as UAVs currently do.

gCaptain has an interesting time lapse video of the replacement of Z-drives on USCGC Barbara Mabrity (WLM-559). She is part of the USCG’s 175-foot Keeper Class Coastal Class Buoy Tenders, equipped with Z-Drive propulsion units instead of the standard propeller and rudder configuration. The Z-drives independently rotate 360 degrees.

Navy Recognition has photos of a new Chinese CIWS, an 11 barrel 30mm. It might be surprising that they have developed a new gun, rather than a missile based CIWS, but you will note in the proto below, they also have a missile system similar in concept to the US/German developed RAM. Also visible are an ASW/anti-torpedo rocket launcher and a decoy launcher.

You can also see the system here: http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2013/03/photos-of-day-pumping-lead-liaoning.html

The Acquisitions Directorate is reporting that the first of the new class of “Long Range Interceptor” boats arrived in Alameda to equip the Bertholf on Feb. 20. The 38 knot boat is 35 feet long, and has a range of 220 nmi.

James Holmes , professor of strategy at the Naval War College and author of “The Naval Diplomat” blog, makes the argument that the Coast Guard will need to prepare itself to again take an active role as a naval force, this time in the Arctic.

He argues that the Coast Guard already has the lead in the Arctic, and that the Navy and Marine Corp will continue to be preoccupied with China and Iran.

Professor Holmes sees changing the culture of the Coast Guard as being a greater challenge than getting the proper equipment.

I see it a little differently. Coast Guard personnel are nothing if not adaptable, and if they need to fight, they will learn how, just as they did in WWII–assuming the US Navy is willing and able to teach. The Coast Guard cannot make an not an overnight transition, but threats do not materialize overnight either. On the other hand, it does take time and planning to have the right assets available. The Coast Guard needs a clear vision of its wartime role and it needs to define its requirements with those roles in mind, even if it a case of “fitted for, but not with” the military capabilities. I don’t think we have that vision, and I don’t think the Navy has a plan for the Coast Guard either. It has not mattered much since the Soviet threat dissolved, but it is beginning to matter again. With the possibility that Chinese defense expenditures may equal those of the US by 2023, we may have a true peer competitor long before the assets we are buying today reach the end of their lives.

If the Coast Guard does not have a role in wartime, questions regarding why we have ships (NSC) that looks like a frigate and cost as much as frigate, but cannot do the work of a frigate may arise. The administration may ask why we should have large ships in the Coast Guard at all, if Navy ships using LEDETs can do CG missions in peacetime and also be ready for war.

NationalDefenseMagazine.org is reporting the competition for the OPC contract is heated, with eight yards having submitted bids.

“Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La.; Eastern Shipbuilding, Panama City, Fla.; General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; General Dynamics Nassco, San Diego; Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Miss.; Marinette Marine, Marinette, Wis.; Vigor Shipyards, Seattle and VT Halter Marine, Pascagoula, Miss.”

They asked all eight for comment, but only obtained substantive comment from Vigor, Bollinger, Huntington Ingalls, and Marinette Marine.

We should not be surprised that many yards entered the competition. For some of these yards, this is the largest contract they can ever hope to be awarded. Even for the largest yards, it is potentially steady work for many years, perhaps though 2032, if the full 25 are completed at the planned rate of less than two a year.

The RFP closed January 23. The Commandant has said we will hear soon which three yards will be given contracts to further develop their proposals and provide contract designs for the second phase of the competition.