Naval News reports the delivery of, ARA Piedrabuena (P-52), the first of three new Offshore Patrol Vessels to the Argentine Navy.

“This delivery is part of the contract signed by Naval Group with Argentina in 2018 for the delivery of four multi-mission patrol vessels. A.R.A. Bouchard (former L’Adroit) was delivered last December, two months ahead of schedule.”

The video above discusses the progress of the program. These new ships are somewhat different from the former French ship L’Adroit, before its transfer to Argentina, in that they are ice-strengthened and somewhat better armed with a 30mm auto-cannon. A.R.A. Bouchard the former L’Adroit now carries the same weapon.

You might recall, that L’Adroit was used as an example of what we might achieve with a notional “Cutter X,” in that it is not much more complex than the Webber class Fast Response Cutters, but offers better seakeeping, longer range, two RHIBs, and a helicopter flight deck and hangar.

Below is a Coast Guard Academy news release. Almost titled this “Not your daddy’s Coast Guard.”

News Release U.S. Coast Guard Academy Contact: USCGA Public Affairs Office: (860) 444-8270 After Hours: (860) 857-5544 Academy online newsroom Coast Guard Academy participates in 2021 NSA Cyber Exercise NEW LONDON, Conn.– A team from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy participated in the National Security Agency’s 20th annual National Cyber Exercise (NCX), a cyber competition that tests offensive and defensive cybersecurity skills, held virtually April 8-10. More than 200 women and men participated from U.S. Service Academies and Senior Military Colleges as well as civilian interns from NSA’s cyber-focused development programs in the three-day competition designed to develop and test cybersecurity skills. During this year’s exercise, Coast Guard Academy cadets engaged with NSA personnel to execute and evaluate cyber mission strategies and complete cyber operation scenarios in real-time. Exercise scenarios included challenges that tested skills in forensics, cyber policy, cryptography, reverse engineering as well as attack-and-defend cyber exercise .“The competition is an opportunity to build upon skills taught in academic classes such as cryptography, software reverse engineering, and digital forensics,” said Lt. Ryan Quarry, Cyber Systems instructor at the Coast Guard Academy. “Participating in NCX allows future cyber leaders of our service to stop malicious activity designed to disrupt, degrade, or destroy the nation’s critical maritime infrastructure. ”NCX demands that cadets exercise their training to operate effectively in teams as well as communicate and make decisions while evaluating complex technical data points. Cyberattacks are invisible hazards that are capable of inflicting real physical damage. These threats target the infrastructure, information systems, networks, and personal devices we rely on every day. The U.S. Coast Guard has a long-standing mission of protecting America’s maritime transportation system and critical infrastructure, as well as those who work on and live near the water. Cyberspace is an operational domain that integrates information and intelligence in support of Coast Guard operations. The Coast Guard Academy recently instituted a Cyber Systems major to meet the needs of the service’s cybersecurity strategy of defending cyberspace, enabling operations, and protecting infrastructure. The major provides graduates with the computing skills and technical ability to meet the needs of the Coast Guard cyber mission. Since 2001, the NSA has hosted the team-against-team competition that develops and tests teamwork, planning, communication and decision-making skills of the next generation of cyber talent. More information about Coast Guard Cyber operations and missions can be found here.

The following is from CG-9’s web site. 

Below is an announcement from the Acquisitions Directorate (CG-9) web site.

Coast Guard awards contract for up to 20 OTH-IV boats and equipment

April 12, 2021 —

The Coast Guard today awarded a contract to Safe Boats International L.L.C. of Bremerton, Washington, for up to 20 over the horizon-IV (OTH-IV) cutter boats with supporting equipment. The fixed price contract has a total potential value of $8.8 million and includes an initial order for one OTH-IV and supporting equipment. This contract will enable the Coast Guard to meet equipment requirements for new cutters as the service prepares to transition to the OTH-V cutter boat platform.

OTH-IVs acquired through this contract will outfit new national security cutters (NSC), fast response cutters (FRC) and offshore patrol cutters (OPC) through April 2024. The new contract incorporates revisions to the navigation and communication systems to mitigate obsolescence concerns.  

The Coast Guard has used OTH-IVs since 2013; it is the service’s standard cutter boat for missions that may extend 70 nautical miles from its parent craft. Two OTH-IVs are assigned to each NSC, one OTH-IV to each FRC, with OPCs capable of operating one to three OTH-IVs. OTH-IVs are 26 feet long and have a top speed of 40 knots. Compared to earlier generations, the OTH-IVs feature increased cargo space and seating, higher speeds and compatibility with both stern and side-davit launch and recovery systems.

Cutter boats deployed aboard cutters facilitate mission accomplishment in almost all mission areas, with emphasis in search and rescue, drug interdiction, alien migrant interdiction operations, living marine resources, defense readiness, and ports, waterway and coastal security.

For more information: Boat Acquisition program page

C4IRSNET reports a new cooperative research agreement between the US, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and New Zealand. 

“In November, the Pentagon signed a new memorandum of understanding for the International Cooperative Engagement Program for Polar Research effort. The ICE-PPR involves a group of seven nations that formalized efforts to cooperate on basic research projects and solve the “biggest challenges of safely operating in the extreme polar environment,” John Woods, deputy director of the International Engagement Office with the Office of Naval Research Global, told C4ISRNET.”

MSN and Washington Examiner report on a new agreement between the US and Taiwanese Coast Guard. Despite the flashy headline the Coast Guard is not going to protect Taiwan from invasion by the PRC. It is really a lot more like the network of working arrangements we have with other countries, but China, of course, objected. 

When I googled the agreement to find out more, the number of reports of China’s fury over the agreement, like this one: China denounces US-Taiwan coast guard cooperation agreement (yahoo.com), far outnumbered reports of the agreement itself. Getting China spun up is its own reward.

Again based on the Google search, the agreement received a surprising amount of attention in India with reports like this: US, Taiwan sign coast guard deal to Counter China – Times of India (indiatimes.com)

There was a surprising twist in that Palau seems to have been played a part in this. Taiwan hints at Coast Guard alliance with U.S., Palau (globalsecurity.org)

(With the help of Non-Governmental Organizations, we seem to be working toward an internationally shared system for tracking fishing activity and hopefully detecting Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported fishing that would benefit nations like Palau, one of the 15 nations that still recognize Taiwan.)

The Chinese have sought to isolate Taiwan in every way possible way so any kind of contact sets them off.

Meanwhile, China’s claim of sovereignty over most of the South China Sea has its routes in a claim made by the Nationalist Chinese government shortly after WWII, that Taiwan still supports. That puts them at odds with other nations including Japan. 

Navy Recognition reports on a joint US/Bahrain exercise that included USCGC Adak and a Coast Guard Maritime Engagement team

The Coast Guard has long talked about the need for a Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) land based unmanned aircraft. I have assumed the most likely contender was the MQ-9B, but it looks like there may be another contender, an Optionally Manned aircraft developed by Burt Rutan‘s Scaled Composites. This is the Northrop Grumman Firebird.

Airforce-Technology.com reports that during a recent almost 9,000 mile series of demonstration flights that,

“During the flight tests concluded in Florida, the Northrop team conducted a series of ‘manned maritime operational events’.

“These events comprised a four-sensor package that included two high-definition electro-optical/infra-red EO/IR sensors, a maritime configured multi-spectral sensor for small target detection, as well as an automatic identification system (AIS) receiver.”

I don’t think this maritime demonstration would have been for the Navy, since they are already committed to the jet powered MQ-4C Triton.

Apparently the Firebird is already in service with an unspecified Federal Agency. I would guess this is probably a DHS agency.

I was a bit surprised to see that the aircraft is powered by a typical general aviation aircraft engine, the Lycoming TO-540. That means it uses AvGas rather than the fuel typically used by Coast Guard turbine powered aircraft, but it also means that the fuel is available at virtually every airport and its maintenance is familiar to thousands of aircraft mechanics all over the world.

Below is a story from MyCG. Will the surface forces also get this upgrade?

Aviation upgrades night vision goggles

By Lt. Cmdr. Kyle Russell, MyCG Contributor

Coast Guard aviation is following the lead of the Department of Defense (DoD), and investing in more capable night vision goggles (NVG) for the fleet. These NVGs will increase the capabilities of our crews as they perform all night missions, especially the aviation use of force mission at HITRON, the rotary wing air intercept mission in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and shipboard deployments. 

The AN/AVS-9 white phosphor night vision goggles (WP-NVG) are a recent upgrade to the current generation of the ANVIS-9 NVG platform Coast Guard aircrews currently use. WP-NVG improvements consist of an improved image intensifier tube and is fully interchangeable with the legacy image intensifier tubes in current USCG aviation NVGs. This new technology provides improved resolution and a substantially higher figure of merit (FOM) (line pairs per millimeter x signal-to noise ratio) than the current ANVIS-9 system.  

The U.S. Army’s Aviation Research Lab (USAARL) and the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command Flight Test Squadron conducted extensive testing on WP-NVGs based on demand from special operations aviation communities for improved night vision systems and the overwhelming justification stems from user surveys indicating increased resolution, comfort, and ability to identify objects.

Additional testing conducted by Coast Guard crews agreed with the DoD testers which ultimately led to the recapitalization of the fleet. The Aviation Logistics Center Engineering Services Division is currently managing the rollout efforts for the WP-NVGs and as of mid-March, 11 units have received new intensifier tubes, with a priority being given to rotary wing assets.  The fleet transition is estimated to be complete in the fall of 2021. 

NavalToday reported,

“French Marine Nationale ships have achieved five seizures of illicit drugs in just six days, whilst participating in a counter-narcotics focused operation under the command of Combined Maritime Forces’ (CMF) Canadian-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 150.”

Drug interdiction in the 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility. PATFORSWA probably had something to do with this. Information about CTF 150 here.