“ARCIMS SeaSense: An Autonomous Anti-Submarine Warfare Solution” –Naval News

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Naval News (sponsored content) reports,

ATLAS ELEKTRONIK UK (AEUK) have added an underwater surveillance system to their already established fleet of ARCIMS Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs). Integrated with a compact Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) ‘SeaSense’, this underwater threat detection capability has been designed to operate within confined and shallow waters, offering an alternative to the traditional ASW platform.

What we have here is a combination of two systems, both of which may be of interest, a lightweight sonar system and an optionally manned 11 meter boat that is essentially a maritime pickup truck that can handle alternative mission loads. Apparently, there is also a mine countermeasures system based on the same 11 meter uncrewed surface vessel.

ATLAS ELEKTRONIK is a long established, very experienced German electronics and defense company with subsidiaries worldwide, including the US. Among other products, they make the Sea Fox mine disposal system for the US Navy.

That the ARCIMS platform is an 11meter boat immediately piqued my interest because it is the same size as the Long Range Interceptor carried by National Security Cutters (NSC), suggesting the craft might be operated from NSC with minimal changes.

A couple of NSCs with MH-60R ASW helicopters and four of these sonar equipped optionally manned boats might make a pretty robust deployable ASW screen for an Amphibious Objective Area or a port of debarkation without major changes to the NSCs.

“Proceedings Podcast Ep. 314: USCG Vice Commandant Admiral Poulin on Force Structure and Strategy”

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ADM Steven D. Poulin, Vice Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard

The U. S. Naval Institute has issued a podcast, a wide-ranging interview with the Vice Commandant, Admiral Steven D. Poulin. If you are a regular reader here, I don’t think you will be surprised by any of it.

I have to admit a dislike for podcasts as a medium. They take longer than reading. Comprehension is probably less. If you miss something and want to check what was said, it is difficult. Frankly, people talking off the cuff probably don’t give as good, or as complete an answer, as they would with written media. At the very least I wish a transcript accompanied the oral version. I might feel differently if I still had a long commute when I might want something useful to do while stuck in traffic. 

Since this podcast was a part of a regular US Naval Institute podcast series, I would think most of the listeners were not Coast Guard and were likely more familiar with the Navy and/or Marine Corps. It may have been a missed opportunity to explain the Coast Guard’s place as an element of seapower to a naval audience, whereas the answers seemed more oriented toward a Coast Guard audience.

Also, during this podcast, we hear the frequently sighted similarity in size of the Coast Guard and the New York City Police Department. While there is some truth to this, both have about 50,000 full time employees, over 35,000 NYPD uniformed officers and over 40,000 active-duty Coast Guard’s men, Admiral Poulin did push back on this a bit sighting Coast Guard Reserves and Auxiliary.

I don’t think it is helpful to say we are small, which leads to the assumption we are unimportant as a military service. A comparison with other naval services is more relevant.

Since the 1950s the US Navy has shrunk considerably, while the Coast Guard has grown. When I entered the Academy in 1965, in terms of personnel, the Navy was about 22 times larger than the Coast Guard. The Marine Corps was about 8 time larger. Now the Navy is less than nine times larger, and the Marine Corps is about 4.5 times larger.

I would point out that the US Coast Guard has more active uniformed personnel (40,000), more aircraft (200), more ships (243), and certainly more boats, than the Royal Navy (34,130 active uniformed personnel, 160 aircraft, and 85 ships) or the French Navy (37,000 active uniformed personnel, 178 aircraft, and 180 ships). That is not to say the Coast Guard is a more powerful than these highly professional mid-sized navies, that include nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, but the Coast Guard is not insignificant. We have a large pool of highly trained mariners and aircrewmen. If we ever again have a major non-nuclear war against a near peer adversary, the Coast Guard will make a substantial contribution, perhaps even more so than it did during WWII.

“How Lockheed Doubled The Range Of Its Joint Air-To-Ground Missile” –The Drive

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16 tube patrol boat installation. 32 tube surface vessel installation. Eight tube vehicle installation.

(I meant to post this weeks ago, but I must have been distracted)

The Drive reports on tests of an upgraded Joint Air Ground Missile (JAGM) that will be replacing the Hellfire. While originally conceived as an air launched anti-surface weapon, both Hellfire and JAGM have proven more flexible, being launched from the surface and being used against low altitude air targets. I found these comments particularly relevant to possible Coast Guard use.

As to the platforms that could potentially fire JAGM-MR, the fact that early tests have been from ground launchers reflects the fact that the initial priority is to field it in a land-based form.

“We’re looking at various ground-based capabilities and looking to demonstrate vertical launch in the 2023 timeframe, although I don’t have specific dates,” Drake adds. “That could naturally transition into, you know, launch from an LCS [Littoral Combat Ship], as an example. And then other unique ideas that I really can’t speak to today.”

There is good information here about both Hellfire improvements and JAGM.

I must admit, I think these weapons would be a good fit for the Coast Guard, allowing even relatively small Patrol Boats (WPBs) to have the punch of a medium caliber gun, and with the range improvements coming, even greater effective range, at far less total cost. They should be particularly effective against small, fast, highly maneuverable surface threats and might be useful against larger vessels as well, all while minimizing the possibility of collateral damage. Importantly, these weapons are already in the Navy’s inventory.

Some previous discussion of Hellfire and JAGM:

 

“Coast Guard to Triple Western-Pacific Deployments, Policy Chief Says” –Defense One

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Defense One has an interview with Rear Adm. Michael Ryan, the Coast Guard’s deputy commandant for operations policy and capabilities.

The reference to tripling Western-Pacific Deployments seems to reflect the planned deployment of three National Security Cutters to the Western Pacific in 2023, but that is not explicitly stated and there is also reference to homeporting a WMEC in the Western Pacific, topics we discussed here.

Most of the interview is really about connectivity, data collection, and analysis. Hopefully we will see some data used for a new Fleet Mix Study, that will determine our needs and be able to justify them to Congress.

It was interesting to me that the interview was a result of Admiral Ryan’s attendance at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Expeditionary Warfare conference in Arlington, Va.

After Prototype SLEP USCGC Seneca still has her 76mm

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USCGC Seneca’s (WMEC 906) crew pulls into home port in Portsmouth, Virginia, Feb. 17, 2023, following a 24-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea. Seneca’s crew worked with Joint Interagency Task Force South and the U.S. Air Force to disrupt nearly 1,350 kilograms of narcotics from two law enforcement cases in the Caribbean Sea. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kate Kilroy)

Not a big thing, but since we have been told USCGC Seneca was the prototype for the WMEC 270 SLEP,

“Coast Guard Cutter SENECA arrived in the summer of 2021 for the prototype Service Life Extension. Both SSDG and Emergency Generators replaced which included electrical upgrades to SSDG and emergency switchboards. SENECA was utilized as the prototype vessel for ISVS to the 270’ fleet that begins in 2022 with CGC HARRIET LANE.

and we have heard that the 76mm Mk75 gun and presumably the Mk92 Fire Control System are being removed during the SLEP, I wondered if the gun and firecorntrol had been removed?

A recent photo (above) accompanying a Navy League Seapower Magazine report of the return to homeport of USCGC Seneca after 24 day Caribbean Patrol clearly shows both the Mk75 and the Mk92 in place.

“Pakistan’s New OPV – PNS Yarmook – Is At NAVDEX 2023” –Naval News

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Sister ship: GULF OF OMAN (Nov. 11, 2021) Pakistani corvette PNS Tabuk sails alongside amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) during a passing exercise in the Gulf of Oman, Nov. 11, 2021. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Sang Kim)

Naval News reports on a tour of a recently completed Damen designed Offshore Patrol Vessel. The vessel itself, PNS Yarmook (271), is a very typical modern OPV. What is not typical is the way it is being armed.

A medium caliber gun (57-76mm) and a pair of auto-cannon (20-30mm) seems to be the norm. Instead, it is to be a 30 mm Aselsan SMASH remote weapon station, two Aselsan STAMP remote weapon systems, (presumably with .50 cal. machine guns) and a Phalanx Block 1B close-in weapon system, and eight Harbah sub-sonic, anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) with land attack capability. This missile, at 1350 kg, is about twice as large as Harpoon (1523 lbs / 691 kg) and 50 kg or 110 pounds heavier than the Tomahawk. It is more than three times larger than Naval Strike Missile.

Pakistan is building another, slightly larger class of OPVs. Presumably, they will also be armed with ASCM. These, like the Yarmook class, are being built by the Damen yard in Galati, Romania.

USCGC Stone arrives in Montevideo, Uruguay for scheduled visit” –LANTAREA

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USCGC Stone’s (WMSL 758) 35-foot long range interceptor small boat crew conducts vessel on vessel use of force training in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 18, 2023. Stone is the ninth Legend-class national security cutter in the Coast Guard fleet and currently homeports in Charleston, South Carolina. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ethan Craw)

Below is a press release from Atlantic Area. Seems cutters are going everywhere lately. We had a report of a previous port call on this deployment. “Expanding partnerships: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone arrives in Port of Suape, Brazil” –LANTAREA, Jan. 31, 2023

This is Stone’s second deployment to the Atlantic coast of South America. The first was done before she was even commissioned. The weather should be nice, Summer in Montevideo.

Other reports of her previous deployment to South America.

Feb. 19, 2023

USCGC Stone arrives in Montevideo, Uruguay for scheduled visit

USCGC Stone (WMSL 758)  USCGC Stone small boat launch

Editor’s Note: To view more or download high-resolution imagery, click on the photos above.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — The USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) arrived in the Port of Montevideo, Uruguay for a scheduled visit Sunday.

Stone is conducting a multi-mission deployment in the South Atlantic Ocean, exercising the U.S. Coast Guard’s partnership with the host nation to counter illicit maritime activity and promote maritime law enforcement throughout the region. Stone’s deployment focuses on developing partnerships and increasing U.S. interoperability with South American nations to counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

“Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing has replaced piracy as the leading global maritime security threat,” said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Clinton Carlson, Stone’s commanding officer. “The United States stands with Uruguay in our shared commitment to countering this threat and we are working hand-in-hand to uphold our mutual security interests in the region.”

Uruguay and the United States are party to the Port State Measures Agreement, the first binding international agreement that targets IUU fishing. The agreement brings together best practices to strengthen enforcement measures for signatories to apply when foreign fishing and fishing support vessels seek entry into their ports to prevent IUU-caught fish and fish products from being landed or transshipped, eliminating the economic incentives that drive IUU fishing.

Both nations also participate in the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which coordinates the conservation and management of highly migratory fish species throughout the Atlantic Ocean, including through shared science and joint monitoring. Stone’s visit is intended to build a mutual understanding and rapport among the nations’ maritime forces to advance our shared efforts to strengthen the Commission’s tools against IUU fishing.

“U.S. maritime law enforcement presence in South American waters is not unusual,” said Carlson. “Many of the illicit actors operating in this region come from all over the world to fish in other nations’ exclusive economic zones. Partnering with these nations’ maritime forces allows us to identify those who are violating our partners’ maritime sovereignty, fishing migratory species to near extinction, and impacting the economic livelihoods of coastal communities that rely on sustainable fish stocks.”

Stone last visited Uruguay in January of 2021 on a similar mission to address port security and threats posed by IUU fishing, and to help facilitate safe and lawful maritime commerce and travel.

Stone’s second visit to Montevideo in as many years comes at an opportune time, as the United States and Uruguay mark the 70th anniversary of the 1953 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement between the nations. The accord served as the foundation of the long history of cooperation between the two democracies in defense equipment, training, and peacekeeping operations around the world that continues to thrive today.

Stone is the ninth Legend-class national security cutter in the Coast Guard fleet and currently homeports in Charleston, South Carolina. The national security cutters can execute the most challenging national security missions, including support to U.S. combatant commanders.

Stone is under the command of U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area oversees all Coast Guard operations east of the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf. In addition to surge operations, they also allocate ships to work with partner commands and deploy to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific to combat transnational organized crime and illicit maritime activity.

Information about the U.S. Coast Guard’s efforts to combat IUU-F, including the Coast Guard’s IUU-F Strategic Outlook, the National 5-Year Strategy for Combatting IUU-F, and other resources, can be found here.

For information on how to join the U.S. Coast Guard, visit GoCoastGuard.com to learn about active duty, reserve, officer, and enlisted opportunities. Information on how to apply to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy can be found here.

Why we, and the US Navy, need the 30mm

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I found the video above through a post from Defense News “Rafael unveils video of counter-drone capability on Typhoon weapon.” The vessel in the video is, I believe, the Israeli built, Shaldag V class, Philippine Navy patrol boat BRP Lolinato To-Ong (PG-902). Presumably the video was taken during the vessel’s trials.

While the story is about the latest 30mm version of the Typhoon Remote Weapon Station, the lesson for the Coast Guard (and the Navy) seems to be that the new 30mm air burst ammunition fired from the Mk44 Bushmaster II gun, which is also part of the M38 Mod4 system, provides a Counter UAS capability that is not possible with our current 25mm guns.

If that were not enough, we have known for a long time that the 30mm is much more effective than the 25mm against even small surface craft.

The air burst is not the only type of round that is available for the 30mm but not the 25mm. There is the swimmer round that makes it more likely the gun can punch a hole in the hull below the water line. It is also likely to be more effective against ships’ propulsion machinery.

Major Patrol Cutter in the Western Pacific 365?

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The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane arrives at the Coast Guard Yard for a service life extension in Baltimore, March 28, 2022. The cutter will remain in Baltimore without the crew for approximately nine months during the overhaul project.

The US Naval Institute News service reported on remarks by Pacific Area Commander Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson Wednesday, February 15, during an address to the WEST conference, hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.

What he said:

Sometime in 2024, one of the WMEC 270s currently based in Portsmouth, VA that has (or will) undergo a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) will be moved to a new homeport, somewhere in the Western Pacific. Admiral Tiongson specifically said, “…it can be anywhere from Sasebo [Japan] to Honolulu,” I don’t think he was ruling out ports west of Sasebo, and

“… this year, the Coast Guard is sending three national security cutters to the Indo-Pacific. Hawaii-based cutter USCGC Kimball (WMSL-756) is currently deployed and operating in U.S. 7th Fleet “with the Japan coast guard,” he said. Two more national security cutters are scheduled to deploy to the region this year.”

(All I know about the status of the WMEC270 SLEP program is here.)

Speculation:

The Mission: 

This is explicitly a commitment to countering Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported (IUU) fishing done primarily, but not exclusively by the Chinese, and to stand up for our friends against Chinese bullying, particularly in regard to their expansive unrecognized claims in the South China Sea.

If, as the Admiral says, the MEC will provide 185 days away from homeport, and if we continue to deploy three National Security Cutters to the area annually for about two months each, we have the potential to have a large patrol cutter on task, either underway or making a diplomatic port visit all year round.

The map above, which shows the maximum extent of Japanese advance across the Pacific during WWII, was the best I could find to show potential homeports. Geography hasn’t changed and I think it may be evocative. 

Homeport?: There are certainly several possibilities, but my interpretation is that this is largely about the South China Sea, so geography should play heavily in the choice of the homeport for the transferred cutter.

Honolulu is an easy answer, since we already have a major base supporting large cutters there, but it is far from where I think this ship is expected to work. It is the only port in the Western Pacific where a Coast Guard Airstation could provide a helicopter to deploy with the cutter (Kodiak is about as far West, but not really a player). Beside requirig long transits, being homeported in Honolulu would not help our outreach efforts while the ship is in port, as it might if the ship were based in a partner nation.

Guam is also a possibility. It is 6,126 kilometers or 3,308 nautical miles West of Honolulu. We have a buoy tender and three Webber class FRCs there. There are also a pair of Navy submarine tenders there that should be able to provide a degree of support. There is a Navy helicopter squadron there that might be able to provide a helicopter to deploy with the ship, but like Honolulu in port time there will not help a partner nation.

Singapore is at a critical strategic strait and has been used by the US Navy as home away from home for Littoral Combat Ships. Singapore is a wealthy and sophisticated nation. They don’t seem to need any help from us. We will want to visit and maintain good relations, but I don’t think we want to homeport there.

Sasebo, Japan, already has a major US Navy base, so support is not a problem. Like Guam the US Navy in Japan probably has helicopters that could deploy with the cutter. Japan Coast Guard is both very experienced and extremely large, with more large cutters than the US Coast Guard. Again, we will want to visit and maintain good relations, but I don’t think we have a lot to offer them.

Embed with the Philippine Coast Guard, perhaps sharing a homeport with the Philippines’ new 97 meter Japanese built cutters BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Melchora Aquino. This is where I think the WMEC should be. It is close to the center of action. The Philippines has seen the benefits of allowing US military access and a cutter might be the most welcome form of US military presence. Joint patrols are planned. A cutter based in the Philippines would foster greater interoperability. Shipboard helicopter operation is in its infancy in the Philippine Coast Guard. Frequent ready access to a flight deck equipped US Coast Guard cutter and crew could help them mature this capability.

Embarked Aircraft?:

It seems likely the transferred cutter may frequently operate without an embarked USCG helicopter. A UAS seems to be a good idea, at least the same ScanEagle system currently on the NSCs.

Hosting a partner nation’s helo on board might be beneficial to both services and would improve interoperability.

The End Game: 

Ultimately, I think the US is hoping to open a chapter of Combined Maritime Forces, a 34 member country law enforcement alliance, or to form something similar, in the Western Pacific. This could be the beginning.