https://www.dvidshub.net/image/2420118/coast-guard-coordinates-removal-sunken-tug-near-juneau-alaska#.Vs0c6YRWu20

This looks like it might be an opportunitiy to test the lethality of our 57mm guns. We have a tug that needs to be disposed of. Let’s see how well a Bertholf’s 57mm Mk110 does against this small target.

In April 2012 we had an opportunity to exercise our weapons against a derilect Japanese fishing vessel that had been adrift since the Tsunami of 11 March 2011. USCGC Anacapa let loose with her 25mm and probably scored over a hundred hits, but ultimately had to use fire hoses to sink the little ship. I used this as an example of how hard it is to sink a ship with gunfire. 

To be fair lets make sure that all the tugs few bulkheads are watertight; you would want to make sure they were before towing it anyway. To make it interesting, start shooting from between 10,000 and 12,000 yards, and fire say 20 rounds at that range. Then close to about 7,000 and shoot another 20. If the tug hasn’t sunk, close to no less than 4,000 and try to finish it off.

Would be very interested to see the results, including how long it takes to sink the ship? How many hits at what ranges? It would be good for an aircraft to get some video of the damage, as it progresses too. The Navy might also be interested in the results.

The Commandant will be issuing the 2016 State of the Coast Guard address at 14:00 (2:00 PM) Eastern Time. Apparently it will be streamed live. Details here. http://www.uscg.mil/CoastGuard2016/

Bairdmaritime is reporting that European ship owners are supporting recommended EU guidelines for policy regarding ships that seek refuge within the territorial sea of EU countries.

I don’t have a Captain of the Port/Marine Safety background. Could this be an issue for the US?

We have a report from the Japan Times that, ”

“The United States and Japan plan to hold a meeting of coast guard commanders with Australia and the Philippines as part of their efforts to forge a unified front against China’s maritime activities, according to diplomatic sources.”

with the meeting likely to take place in the Philippines.

Australia’s coast guards are volunteer organizations, more like the CG auxiliary, so their representative is likely to be Royal Australian Navy. I would think the Philippine Navy might have a role here as well. Although the Philippine Coast Guard is being reinforced, it is still not up to the task of facing down the Chinese Coast Guard. Even their Navy would have a hard time with that. There is also a Philippino fisheries management agency which is likely to be a player.

Interestingly recently Reuters reported that the US was “open” to joint patrols with the Philippines. Apparently the US is also talking Joint Patrols with India.

What does all this mean for the Coast Guard?

It appears the most likely outcome is USCG and perhaps Japanese and/or Australian ship-riders on Philippine ships and perhaps USCG ship-riders on Japanese cutters. If something happens between Chinese and Philippine units that might prompt the US to intercede, we would certainly want to know what actually happened. We don’t want to be dragged into a war because a Philippine unit acted improperly and then blamed the Chinese. Good documentation would also be useful in influencing domestic and world opinion. Ship-riders would also mean that if the Chinese attempt to bully the Philippines or Japan by the use of deadly force, it would mean they would have to consider the prossible consequences of US and/or Australian casualties as well.

There are other, less likely possibilities, we might, as 7th Fleet has suggested, send a cutter to patrol with the Philippine Coast Guard, or with Philippine Coast Guard representatives embarked, allowing the cutter to provide transportation and support for Philippine Authorities. Also possible, but probably more provocative and therefore less likely, would be putting Coast Guard LEDET and Philippine authorities on US Navy vessels to enforce Philippine law.

I suspect these consultations are in anticipation of a favorable decision on behalf of the Philippines by the International Tribunal on Law of the Sea.  If the Tribunal decices the Chinese are imposing themselves on territory that should be under Philippine administration, what will be done about it?

These are not Coast Guard Craft, but they are interesting to boat drivers in general.

Beside, some day some Coast Guard crew may run into something similar up to no good.

Only been six weeks after the issuance of “Dec. 14, 2015 Congressional Research Service report, Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress” there was already a 27 January, 2016 update, but this one is very different, because it incorporates the content of the FY2016 Appropriations Act which the President is expected to sign. Hopefully this marks a turning point in Coast Guard Procurement. 

There is a nice summary of how the budget battle developed in Table 7. “Summary of Appropriations Action on FY2016” on page 28. The biggest part of the jump from request to Appropriation was $640M for a ninth Bertholf Class, but there were other increases in both the OPC and NSC programs.

• The NSC program went from a request for $91.4M to a final figure of $743.4M. A delta of $653M
• The OPC program from a request for $18.5M to $89.0M permitting the award of the OPC down select contract in FY2016.
• The FRC program began and ended as $340.0M (six more boats, a total of 38 funded through FY2016).
• The TOTAL for all three programs went from 4449.9M to $1,172.4M

It does look like we have some friends on both sides of the aisle in Congress.

There are some significant provisions in the bill, that should change the way the Coast Guard does business and reports to the Congress.

• There is a requirement for long range acquisition planning. They did not quite go to 30 years as the Navy has done, but to 20 years.(p.34 &37)
• There is a requirement to track operational ship days as opposed to Days Away From Homeport which may include maintenance as well as operations. (p. 37)
• There is a 10 year requirement to maintain a continuous ship presence in the Bering Sea and Arctic using ships at least as capable as the ones currently used. (p.30).

The Congress did seem to take the service to task for being slow in completing evaluation and implementation of the Crew Rotation Concept (CRC) and Unmanned Air Systems.

The Congressional Research Service also questions why the Coast Guard has not attempted to take advantage of the potential estimated 7% saving that typically result from Multiyear and/or Block Buy contracting. I have been wondering about this for some time myself, especially with regard to the Webber Class Fast Response Cutters which are a mature, proven program approved for full rate production. (p. 20)

Passing this along,

“The USCGC INGHAM and USCGC CAMPBELL Associations are planning a joint reunion, 27-29 September 2016, at the USCGC INGHAM Maritime Museum and National Historic Landmark in Key West, Florida,  www.uscgcingham.org, to celebrate the 80th Birthday of the original Secretary Class Cutters.  All former Secretary Class  Shipmates are invited. Initial POC for INGHAM shipmates is Matt Krainski at comet1996@aol.com and Rick Croasdale for CAMPBELL at captrow737@aol.com.  Former shipmates from BIBB, DUANE, HAMILTON, SPENCER, and TANEY may contact their Associations or Marty Moynihan at coeagle17@yahoo.com.  Additional information will be available this Spring.”

With New Years “Best of…” Lists are perhaps inevitable. This one, from NavyRecognition, while you might argue with the selection is at least interesting.

Perhaps most interesting for us are #6 BAE Systems Unveils the ORKA One Shot One Kill Round for 57mm Gun at Sea-Air-Space 20 and #3 Design of Future TKMS Built Saar 6 MEKO A100 Corvettes for Israeli Navy Unveiled.

#1 At NAVDEX 2015 Navantia unveiled its F-538 Frigate Design for the Peruvian Navy is interesting, as a cutter sized warship, but it is still only a proposal. 

Earlier I quoted the law that enacted the FY2016 budget. Now I’ll attempt to put it in context by comparing it to earlier budget allocations including the FY2014 budget, the FY2015 budget request, the FY2015 budget enacted, and the FY 2016 budget request.  If you want to look back as far as FY2013 enacted and the 2014 request you can look here. There are some area where I do not have information, so I have left them blank. Hopefully I will be able to fill them later as more info becomes available.

…………….(Note all amounts in $000, unless indicated otherwise)

Acquisitions, Construction, and Improvement (AC&I):

• FY 2014 Actual…………………$1,373,135
• FY 2015 President’s Budget……1,084,193
• FY 2015 Actual…………………..1,225,223
• FY 2016 President’s Budget……1,017,269
• FY 2016 Actual………………….$1,945,169

Operations and Maintenance (O&M):

• FY 2014 Actual………………….$6,782,607
• FY 2015 President’s Budget…….6,750,733
• FY 2015 Actual……………………6,830,318
• FY 2016 President’s Budget…….6,821,503
• FY 2016 Actual…………………..$7,061,490

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND RESTORATION:  

• FY 2014 Actual…………………….$13,164
• FY 2015 President’s Budget……..$13,214
• FY 2015 Actual………………………
• FY 2016 President’s Budget……..$13,269
• FY 2016 Actual…………………… $13,221

RESERVE TRAINING:

• FY 2014 Actual…………………….$120,000
• FY 2015 President’s Budget……..$109,605
• FY 2015 Actual………………………
• FY 2016 President’s Budget……..$110,614
• FY 2016 Actual…………………….$110,614

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND EVALUATION: 

• FY 2014 Actual…………………….$19,200
• FY 2015 President’s Budget……..$17,947
• FY 2015 Actual………………………
• FY 2016 President’s Budget……..$18,135
• FY 2016 Actual…………………….$18,019

Mandatory (non-discretionary) appropriations (primarily retired pay):

• FY 2014 Actual…………………..$1,754,148
• FY 2015 President’s Budget……..1,662,373
• FY 2015 Actual…………………….1,663,548
• FY 2016 President’s Budget……..1,823,819
• FY 2016 Actual………………………

Total budget:

• FY 2014 Actual…………………….$10,321,874
• FY 2015 President’s Budget………..9,810,468
• FY 2015 Actual……………………..10,041,720
• FY 2016 President’s Budget………..9,963,914
• FY 2016 Actual:.(I do not have full information, but it should be about $11.2B)

Taking a closer look at AC&I particularly:

FY 2016 President’s Budget requests:

• Acquisition, Construction and Improvements (AC&I) $1.01B which included:
• $533,900 for vessels
• $200,000 for aircraft,
• $101,400 for shore projects

FY2016 Actual

• Acquisition, Construction and Improvements (AC&I) $1,945,169,000
• $1,264,400 for vessels
• $295,000 for aircraft
• $181,600 for shore projects

Note the AC&I for vessels was increased $90.5M more than the $640M for the ninth NSC. Six Webber class WPCs were in the plan from the beginning so they do not account for the difference. Hopefully it restored the funding needed to keep the Offshore Patrol Cutter on track, and perhaps included a bit more for moving forward on the planned Icebreaker.

Capital Investment Plan, This is another document of interest. You can find the latest one, FY2016-2020 here. Hopefully we will see a revised one soon.

The  Cuttermen Association has announced their first recipients of the “Hopley Yeaton Cutter Excellence and Superior Cutterman Awards.”