“USCG selects KVH for new 5-year small cutter satcom connectivity contract” –Marine Log

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“Coast Guard Cutter John F. McCormick (WPC 1121) crew transits through the San Francisco Bay, Saturday, March 4, 2017, during their voyage to homeport in Ketchikan, Alaska. The cutter was named after McCormick who received the Gold Lifesaving Medal in 1938 for his exceptional skill in maintaining control of the 52-foot motor lifeboat Triumph while responding to a vessel in need near the Columbia River Bar under treacherous conditions, allowing the crew to recover a crewmember that had been washed overseas. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Loumania Stewart”

Marine Log reports,

Middletown, R.I., KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), has been awarded a U.S. Coast Guard contract worth a potential $69 million that will see it supply the next-generation satellite communications solution for the service’s small cutter fleet of more than 140 vessels/platforms. Chosen in a full and open competitive procurement process, KVH’s TracPhone V7-HTS Ku-band satellite communications system and mini-VSAT broadband service will be the U.S. Coast Guard’s Small Cutter Connectivity (SCC) Ku-band System and Airtime Support Services solution. The USCG also anticipates that approximately 20 new cutters will join the small cutter fleet over the next five years, requiring the same level of support that KVH will provide to the already deployed vessels.

I presume the additional “approximately 20 new cutters” are the remaining Webber class Fast Response Cutters.

Royal Navy OPV Does Mine Countermeasures With USN Team

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HMS TAMAR

The Royal Navy reports that HMS Tamar participated in an exercise off S. Korea, providing a platform for a US Navy diving/explosive ordnance disposal team equipped with Remus 100 uncrewed underwater vehicles to do mine countermeasures.

Virtually any large Coast Guard cutter could do the same thing, maybe even the Webber class FRCs. HMS Tamar would be an MEC if operated by the Coast Guard.

The Remus 100 would also be useful in reopening ports after a natural disaster, looking for changes in the underwater topography or obstructions.

This goes along with the way I think the Coast Guard should plan to do the Defense readiness mission, that is, that the Coast Guard would provide the platform and USN teams would come aboard, bringing the naval capability, whether it be mine hunting equipment, an ASW towed array and helicopter, or special ops team.

“Coast Guard delivers upgraded multi-mission helicopters to Air Station Atlantic City” –D5 News Release

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MH-65E interior.

While you may have heard the Coast Guard is headed for an all H-60 rotary wing fleet, it seems we will continue to have H-65a for some time.

The upgrades comply with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation Airspace Transportation System requirements, and extends the aircraft service life to the late 2030s.

The Coast Guard plans to convert all 98 of its Dolphin helicopters to the MH-65E configuration by the end of 2024.

News Release U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Public Affairs North
D5 Public Affairs North, Baltimore, Md

Coast Guard delivers upgraded multi-mission helicopters to Air Station Atlantic City 

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City received its first upgraded MH-65E Dolphin helicopter Monday to replace the legacy MH-65D helicopters that serve out of the Coast Guard’s largest MH-65 helicopter unit. 

The avionics upgrade to the Echo or “E” configuration will provide enhanced search and rescue capabilities including modern “glass cockpit” technology that increases pilot and aircrew situational awareness. 

The Dolphin upgrades also include reliability and capability improvements for the automatic flight control system, enhanced digital weather and surface radar, and multifunctional displays with more accurate fuel calculations.

The upgrades comply with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation Airspace Transportation System requirements, and extends the aircraft service life to the late 2030s.

The transition of Air Station Atlantic City’s 12 MH-65D helicopters to the upgraded “E” configuration is expected to take approximately 10 months. 

During the upgrade period, the unit’s 62 pilots and 104 aircrew members will undergo a three-week transition course at the Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama. Aircrew and mechanics will undergo formal training specific to their roles and duties during this course.

“The upgrades and advanced training will enhance the situational awareness of our aircrews and improve mission planning capabilities aboard the Coast Guard’s most prolific rotary-wing asset,” said Cmdr. Christian Polyak, engineering officer at Air Station Atlantic City. “The replacement and inspection of key aircraft components as a part of the upgrade are also expected to extend the aircraft’s service-life and enable us to continue safeguarding and securing our coasts for years to come.”

Air Station Atlantic City Dolphin helicopter crews perform search and rescue, provide aids to navigation support, and maritime law enforcement and marine environmental protection to the mid-Atlantic region from Long Island, New York, to the Maryland/Virginia border. 

Air Station Atlantic City helicopters and aircrews also provide continuous support for the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s airspace security mission in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country as necessary.

Additionally, the upgrades also include advanced navigation capabilities that will allow pilots to safely maneuver through highly congested, complex air traffic that can be encountered in situations such as disaster response.

The Coast Guard plans to convert all 98 of its Dolphin helicopters to the MH-65E configuration by the end of 2024.

For more information visit the MH-65 Program page at SRR – MH-65 (uscg.mil) .

EURONAVAL 2022

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Below is video coverage of the EURONAVAL 2022 trade show, done by Naval News. Below each video is text that accomanied the video on its Youtube page. The highlight for me, was the new 95 meter (312 foot) S. Korean Hundai OPV design, six of which are to be built for the Philippine Navy, discussed in the fourth video.

  • 01:09 – Interview with Admiral Vandier, Chief of Staff of the French Navy
  • 02:48 – PANG next generation aircraft carrier
  • 05:25 – OCEA OSV 315 seabed warfare vessel
  • 06:59 – BAE Systems Adaptable Strike Frigate
  • 10:00 – BAE Systems XLUUV
  • 10:36 – EPC European Patrol Corvette
  • – Nexter new Narwhal RWS fitted with 2 Akeron MP missiles
  • – BAE Systems Kingfisher Stand Off ASW shell
  • – MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3c and Teseo Mk 2/E
  • – Lacroix new SEAMOSC decoy launcher
  • – Rohde & Schwarz new electronic warfare mast
  • – Thales CAPTAS-4 VDS for the U.S. Navy Constellation-class Frigate
  • 01:04 – General Atomcis’ EMALS and AAG for France’s future aircraft carrier (PANG)
  • 03:18 – General Atomics MQ-9B SeaGuardian for the French Navy’s AVSIMAR Phase 2 MALE UAV requirement
  • 06:54 – Schiebel’s new S-300 CAMCOPTER VTOL UAV
  • 07:24 – TKMS MEKO A-200 EN
  • 08:21 – TKMS MEKO A-300
  • 09:50 – TKMS MEKO A-100 10:15 – TKMS Type 212CD
  • 10:36 – TKMS Advanced Submarine Fuel Cell (ASFC) and Li-Ion battery for submarines
  • 11:20 – Alseamar’s Seaexplorer glider with new ASW payload

K. S. Woo, Senior Vice President of marketing, Naval & Sepcial Ship Business Unit, introduced HHI as the #1 shipbuilder in the world. We then focused on two ongoing programs for the Philippine Navy:

  • – HDP-2200 OPV
  • – HDF-3100 Corvette

Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a contract with the Philippine Department of National Defense on June 27, 2022 for six new 2,400 ton Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV). In December 2021, HHI announced it won an order to build two 3,200 ton class corvettes for the Philippine Navy.

Coast Guard Cutter Stratton crew visits Kaktovik, Alaska during Arctic patrol

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The Coast Guard Cutter Stratton passes underneath San Francisco’s Bay Bridge as Stratton and the crew depart on a months-long deployment to the Western Pacific in support of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, June 12, 2019. Operating under the tactical control of the U.S. 7th Fleet commander, Stratton and crew are scheduled to engage in professional exchanges and capacity-building exercises with partner nations in the Western Pacific and to patrol and operate as directed. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew S. Masaschi.

Below is a District 17 news release. This is a bit unusual, that a cutter–not an icebreaker, would be that far into the Arctic. This is about the time of minimum ice coverage in the Arctic. Read about Kaktovik, Alaska here.

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Alaska
Contact: alexander.j.mastel@uscg.mil

Coast Guard Cutter Stratton crew visits Kaktovik, Alaska during Arctic patrol

Members from Coast Guard Cutter Stratton visit Kaktovik, Alaska, Oct. 1, 2022, and participate in a question-and-answer session with approximately 45 community members, including roughly 30 children. Discussion centered on life in the Coast Guard, job opportunities within the organization, motivations for joining, as well as the Coast Guard’s role in the Arctic region. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Coast Guard Cutter Stratton)

Editors’ Note: Click on images to download high resolution version.

KAKTOVIK, Alaska — Crew members from Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) met with key leaders October 1 in Alaska’s most northeastern tribal community, while on a patrol in the Arctic Ocean.

Members from Stratton visited Kaktovik, where they met with Mayor Flora Rexford. Stratton members also participated in a question-and-answer session with approximately 45 community members, including roughly 30 children. Discussion centered on life in the Coast Guard, job opportunities within the organization, motivations for joining, and the Coast Guard’s role in the Arctic region.

Community members offered samplings of muktuk and expressed interest in more Coast Guard engagement in the community, most notably in their schools.

“We are so fortunate to have had this opportunity,” said Lt. Augustus Manzi, combat systems officer aboard Stratton. “We were met with overwhelming generosity from the community. Tribal members spent time getting to know us better and educated us on their customs and way of life. It was an incredible experience.”

The Stratton team presented a plaque to the mayor, delivered hand-knitted blankets gifted by the Alameda Navy League, and offered personalized etched glasses, knit hats and ship memorabilia to community members and their children.

Kaktovik is on the northern edge of the Arctic National Wildlife refuge and home to approximately 300 year-round residents.

CGC Stratton is a 418-foot national security cutter (NSC) capable of extended, worldwide deployment in support of homeland security and defense missions. NSCs routinely conduct operations from South America to the Arctic, where their unmatched combination of range, speed, and ability to operate in extreme weather provides the mission flexibility necessary to conduct vital strategic missions.

“FACT SHEET: U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington, DC” –The White House, May 12, 2022

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Indonesian Maritime Security Agency vessel KN Tanjung Datu, left, sails alongside U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton during joint exercises in the Singapore Strait in August 2019. IMAGE CREDIT: PO1 LEVI READ/USCG

Below is an excerpt from a May 12, 2022 White House Fact Sheet. Notably there is some significant new tasking for the Coast Guard here.

Here is a link to the “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific’s Maritime Pillar” referred to in the excerpt. See particularly V. Areas of Cooperation, Maritime Cooperation, paragraphs 14 and 15 on page 3.

Presumably, this is being implemented, at least in part, as a result of NOAA’s “National Five Year Strategy for Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (2022-2026) which designated Vietnam as one of five “Priority States.”

EXPANDING MARITIME COOPERATION

The United States is committed to supporting implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific’s Maritime Pillar. Today we are announcing $60 million in new regional maritime initiatives, most of which will be led by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).

  • Personnel and Presence: The USCG will deploy assets and assign additional personnel to the Indo-Pacific to help meet partners’ requests for maritime training and capacity-building, to include a USCG attaché at the U.S. Mission to ASEAN.
  • Countering Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing: The Department of State, Department of Labor, and USCG will launch new initiatives to help ASEAN counties counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and strengthen the capacity of ASEAN sectoral bodies to prevent forced labor in the fishing industry.
  • Indo-Pacific Support Platform: The USCG will deploy a cutter to Southeast Asia and Oceania for security cooperation and to operate as a training platform. This cutter will deploy throughout the region providing multinational crewing opportunities, conduct training missions, and participate in cooperative maritime engagements.
  • Excess Defense Articles: As USCG decommissions cutters, the service will prioritize the transfer of ships to Southeast Asian countries to increase the coastal nations’ maritime law enforcement capacity and promote a free and open Pacific.
  • Southeast Asia Training Team: The Department of State and USCG will expand USCG support to maritime law enforcement agencies in Southeast Asia by placing a training team in the region for the first time with additional dedicated support from U.S.-based trainers. These technical experts will provide capacity-building for the regional partners’ maritime law enforcement agencies in the areas of institutional development, readiness, sustainment of equipment, and workforce professionalization.
  • Emergency Training: The USCG and the Department of State will provide new trainings on energy safeguards, protection of critical maritime infrastructure, and all-hazards response.

“SHARK SMART WEAPON STATION FOR LIGHT BOATS” –Joint Forces / Counter UAS

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Joint-Forces reports,

General Robotics of Israel, an advanced systems developer, has unveiled the SHARK Naval RCWS smart weapon station for light boats.

Not only is it light (85 kg without weapon and ammunition), but it also has a unique fire control system,

When the operator presses the trigger, the AI-driven fire control runs a target prediction algorithm to align the projectile’s path and the target’s expected location and points the weapon in that direction. Only then is a burst fired. This technique has demonstrated hit accuracy of about 70 percent. This unique capability enables SHARK to be used as a naval Counter-UAS weapon.

Looks like something the Coast Guard might be interested in.

A pair of these mounted on opposite corners of the PATFORSWA Webber class, replacing two of the crew served .50 cal., might come in handy.

OPC #1 and #2 May Be Delayed

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Artists rendering from Eastern Shipbuilding Group

Two articles report that additional delays to both the future USCGC Argus and USCGC Chase appear likely.

The Marine Log article refers to the Forbes article but appears focused on drive shaft irregularities,

“We received shafting for OPC Hulls 1 and 2 that were not in compliance with the NAVSEA requirements called for in the OPC vessel specifications. These two sets of shafting were delivered to our facility with signed and stamped certificates of approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the U.S. Government-mandated certification authority for the OPC Program, certifying that they were in physical compliance with the ABS approved design artifacts,” said Eastern Shipbuilding Group President Joey D’Isernia. “We later discovered that both shipsets of shafting were non-compliant due to having out of tolerance physical dimensions. This issue was discovered during shaft installation on OPC Hull 1. The Coast Guard, Rolls-Royce [the supplier of the shafts] , and ABS were made aware of the problem immediately and they each had on-site representatives overseeing shaft installation. We are working closely with ABS, Rolls-Royce, and the USCG to resolve this issue as soon as possible. In the meantime, we are coordinating with the Coast Guard to advance post launch production and test activities to be completed prior to launch, in order to mitigate delivery schedule impacts and launch the ship at an even greater level of completion.”

The Forbes article is a more comprehensive look at Eastern progress, or lack there of,  on the project. Its worth reading both.

NATIONAL 5-YEAR STRATEGY FOR COMBATING ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED, AND UNREGULATED FISHING (2022-2026) / and the Missing Air Element

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Under NOAA auspices, the U. S. Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing has issued a five year strategy to address IUU fishing.

There are three identified objectives:

  • Promote Sustainable Fisheries Management and Governance
  • Enhance the Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance of Marine Fishing Operations
  • Ensure Only Legal, Sustainable, and Responsibly Harvested Seafood Enters
    Trade

Five nations have been identified as priorities for development of self sufficiency in the prevention of IUU fishing: Ecuador, Panama, Senegal, Taiwan, and Vietnam. These “Priority States” were selected because their “…vessels: “actively engage in, knowingly profit from, or are complicit in IUU fishing” and, at the same time, the priority flag state “is willing, but lacks the capacity, to monitor or take effective enforcement action against its fleet.”

090808-G-3885B-136
ATLANTIC OCEAN (Aug. 8, 2009) The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Legare (WMEC 912), left, patrols along side the Senegalese Navy vessel, Poponquine, during joint operations as part of the Africa Partnership Station. The Legare is deployed off the west and central coast of Africa for the six-day joint U.S/Senegalese operation, during which several Senegalese naval vessel boarding team members embarked aboard the Legare and participated in joint boarding and training exercises. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas M. Blue/ Released)

It is likely the Coast Guard will be spending time helping these states build capacity in their navies, coast guards, or maritime police.

The Missing Air Element  

One of the great strengths of the US Coast Guard is its fleet of fixed wing aircraft. They provide an essential detection capability. An air search capability allows the patrol vessels to do less searching and more boardings. Most smaller nations’ maritime law enforcement agencies have only limited, or in many cases, no comparable organic air search capability. Frequently, if they are to have an air search, they require cooperation of another service.

What I have seen of our capacity building efforts, seem to have been focused on surface operations and boarding team work.

Recognizing fishing vessels is not in the skill set of most air force crews. Frequently communications between surface vessels and air units are not compatible. In many air forces their aircraft virtually never go out over blue water.

The US Coast Guard could certainly help build capacity on the air side, as well as the surface side of the IUU fishing problem.

Land based Unmanned Air Systems now appear to be a way maritime law enforcement agencies might have an organic fixed wing air search capability at a lower cost. Unfortunately the US Coast Guard still is not particularly experienced in this area. The Japanese Coast Guard might be able to provide valuable advice to at least Taiwan and Vietnam in the use of UAS, as they gain experience with their newly acquired MQ-9Bs.

“Schiebel Teases New Camcopter S-300 UAV At Euronaval” –Naval News

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Camcopter S-300 compared to the S-100 (image from company brochure).

Naval News reports Austrian company Schiebel is building a larger version of their widely used Camcopter S-100 to provide greater endurance and payload.

Regarding the technical specifications, according to Schiebel, the UAS is 4.8 meters long, 1.9 meter high and 0.9 meter wide. It can fly at a maximum speed of 120 knots (cruising speed 55 knots). Size apart, the true difference compared to the S-100 system is the payload capacity. Indeed the S-300 is able to carry up to 340 Kg (fuel including) and its maximum take-off weight can reach 660 Kg. This is basically three times more compared the S-100 can carry. With a 50 Kg payload, the S-300 can fly up to 24 hours (4 hours with 250 Kg).

The 660 kg max takeoff weight (TOW) compares to a 3,150 lb (1,430 kg) Max TOW for the MQ-8B Fire Scout and 6,000 lb (2,721 kg) for the larger MQ-8C Fire Scout.

The French Navy’s VSR 700 UAV mentioned in the last paragraph as a competitor for the S-300 was discussed here.