“British Coast Guard To Trial CAMCOPTER VTOL UAV For Unmanned SAR Missions” –Naval News

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Bristow’s Sikorsky S-92 SAR helicopter flying alongside a Camcopter VTOL UAV. Bristow picture.

Naval News reports that the British Coast Guard is conducting trials using the Schiebel S-100. (We have talked about this UAV before.)

These systems provide us with an option to keep our Sikorsky S92 helicopter crew at Caernarfon on standby for lifesaving events, while the unmanned aircraft are tasked with providing safety overwatch and monitoring which those manned aircraft would otherwise have been sent to carry out. Bristow began initial testing with Schiebel in 2018, with a view to bringing these UAVs into service during the current UKSAR contract. We are proud to have successfully completed these first missions on behalf of HM Coastguard.”

“Chinese boats wreaking havoc in North Korea waters, study says” –UPI

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Chinese squid-fishing vessels in waters near South Korea’s Ulleungdo in September 2016 | ⓒ THE OUTLAW OCEAN PROJECT / VIA KYODO

We have a UPI report that,

“Chinese fishing vessels operating illegally may have hollowed out North Korean waters and likely contributed to an 80 percent decline in local fish stocks, according to a new joint study of Chinese activity in North Korea.”

High levels of Chinese fishing activity in North Korea have also pushed out North Korean fishermen to more dangerous waters. The North Koreans have been moved out north, toward Russia, and may be risking their lives. The study pointed out in recent years Japanese coastal towns have reported the appearance of North Korean “ghost boats” that arrive empty or with human remains.

China seems to be North Korea’s only friend (although there is technology exchange with Iran) but with friends like these…

If anything this makes North Korean even more dependent on the Chinese. This is a pattern I think we are seeing elsewhere–impoverishing local economies by removing local food sources and then offering other forms of economic aid that will result in debt and subservience to China. It is also effecting South Korean and Japanese economies.  More here.

“The scale of the fleet involved in this illegal fishing is about one-third the size of China’s entire distant water fishing fleet,” said Jaeyoon Park, senior data scientist at Global Fishing Watch. “It is the largest known case of illegal fishing perpetrated by vessels originating from one country operating in another nation’s waters.”

It may also mean the the North Korean government will be even more inclined to do something rash and foolish.

If this is in fact a violation of UN sanctions. It might be something the USCG could move against under UN authority, perhaps in cooperation with the Japanese and S. Korean Coast Guards.

Thanks to Sven for bringing this to my attention. 

August, Coast Guard Edition of USNI Proceedings

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It is August so we have a “Coast Guard” edition of the US Naval Institute Proceedings. I have not gotten my hard copy yet, but it is up on line and much of it is avail to non-members including the thee prize winning Coast Guard essays.

Feel free to comment on any of these articles here as well as on the USNI post directly.

“The Coast Guard’s Own COVID-19 Challenges” –Seapower Magazine

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Masked members of the cutter James crew and Commandant Adm. Karl L. Schultz (front, center), along with interagency partners, stand among interdicted narcotics at Port Everglades, Florida, on June 9. U.S. COAST GUARD / Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Murray

The Navy League Magazine (on-line) has a short article about Coast Guard Operations in the COVID-19 environment.

“Coast Guard releases draft request for proposal for river buoy and inland construction tenders” –CG-9

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USCGC Smilax (WLIC-315)

The Acquisition Directorate reports they have released a draft request for proposal (RFP) to “design a River Buoy Tender (WLR) and an Inland Construction Tender (WLIC) – two variants of one design – and build 16 WLRs and 11 WLICs.” I have duplicated their post below:

The Coast Guard released a draft request for proposal (RFP) July 29, 2020, for detailed design and construction of the river buoy and inland construction tenders as part of its Waterways Commerce Cutter acquisition program. The draft RFP is available here.

The deadline to submit feedback on the draft RFP is Sept. 18, 2020.

The Coast Guard is recapitalizing its 35 river, construction and inland buoy tenders, which collectively average more than 55 years in service. The fleet is responsible for maintaining more than 28,200 marine aids throughout 12,000 miles of inland waterways, facilitating the movement of 630 million tons of cargo annually.

There are currently 18 river buoy tenders and 13 construction tenders in the inland tender fleet. Based on extensive analysis of mission needs, the Coast Guard plans to replace these ships with newly designed river buoy tenders and construction tenders that have greater endurance, speed and deck load capacity than their predecessors. The Coast Guard plans to acquire these two variants on the same contract due to major design commonality including hull form, deck layout and standardized equipment. The inland buoy tender replacements will be acquired separately.

Replacing the aging fleet is critical to sustaining the overall safety of the U.S. Marine Transportation System, which accounts for $5.4 trillion of economic activity annually and sustains approximately 30.7 million jobs.

For more information: Waterways Commerce Cutter program page. Additional resources and previous industry engagement materials can be located under the “Resources” tab at the bottom of the page.

Navy to Decommission Cyclone Class Patrol Craft

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Cyclone-class patrol coastal USS Zephyr (PC 8) crew conducts ship-to-ship firefighting to extinguish a fire aboard a low-profile go-fast vessel suspected of smuggling in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean April 7, 2018. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Barney

I learned recently that the Navy expects to decommission their 13 Cyclone class patrol craft in FY2021. This is significant for the Coast Guard for a couple of reasons.

The three based in Mayport have consistently been used to augment Coast Guard vessels, hosting Law Enforcement Detachments for drug enforcement (a recent example). .

Second, these vessels frequently partner with Coast Guard patrol boats of PATFORSWA based in Bahrain. Their decommissioning may put a greater load on the Coast Guard unit as it begins to receive Webber class as replacements for the existing six Island class patrol boats.

ARABIAN GULF (Sept. 16, 2018) A MK-60 Griffin surface-to-surface missile is launched from coastal patrol ship USS Thunderbolt (PC 12). (Photo by MC2 Kevin Steinberg)

For the Island class cutters in the Persian Gulf, the Cyclone class have served as better armed, big brothers, adding a bit of muscle to escort missions where Iranian Fast Inshore Attack Craft might be encountered. While the Webber class, that will be replacing the Island class, are a bit better armed than the 110s, unless they are extensively modified, they will not come close to replacing the missile armed Cyclone class. LCS are supposed to replace the Cyclone class, but they still have not demonstrated the ability to sustain a reasonable number of vessels in a remote theater. LCS are also too large to go many of the places the Cyclone class were able to.

USS Hurricane (PC-3)

These little ships have seemed to count for very little to the Navy. Regularly we see a count of “Battleforce ships”“Battleforce ships” that includes everything from aircraft carriers down to civilian crewed, unarmed fleet tugs (T-ATF), salvage ships (T-ARS), and high speed intra-theater transports (T-EPF, really aluminum hulled, high speed ferries). The Cyclone class were only included in the count one year (2014), so their loss will be largely invisible. (Significantly, this count of what many must assume is the National Fleet also makes no mention of Coast Guard assets either.)

Until ten of the class found a home in Bahrain, the Navy seemed to have had a hard time figuring out what to do with them. Originally intended to support the special warfare community, they were considered to large for that mission. Of the original fourteen one was transferred to the Philippine Navy. Five had been temporarily commissioned as Coast Guard cutters.

Other than the far larger LCS, the navy has no plans to replace these little ships, that have reportedly been the busiest ships in the Navy.

DAHLGREN, Va. (Nov. 6, 2004) Coast Guard Cutter Shamal (WPC-13) . USCG photo by Joseph P. Cirone, USCG AUX

New Zealand Adds One of a Kind Ice Class Underway Replenishment Vessel

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HMNZS Aotearoa Logistics Support Vessel

Naval News reports that the New Zealand Navy has commissioned what I believe is a one of a kind vessel, a Polar class underway replenishment vessel, HMNZS Aotearoa (not that it is an icebreaker, no icebreaking bow).

There is an excellent description of this ship here.

(Anyone know if the Polar Security cutters can do underway replenishment?)

Unlike US Navy replenishment ships, this will be armed and have a military crew.

I doubt the ice-strengthening and winterization really cost a whole lot. With the Arctic opening up, maybe the Navy should be thinking about something like this.

“Meet the ‘Smuzzle,’ the Army’s new hybrid suppressor that reduces sound, recoil and flash” –Army Times

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Army Times reports that the Army has developed a new hybrid device that can reduce the noise, recoil, and flash of a variety of weapons including those common in the Coast Guard. It functions as a muzzle break to reduce recoil that adversely effects accuracy, as a suppressor to reduce noise that may cause hearing loss without the usual adverse effects of a suppressor, and as a flash hider.

“It’s a hybrid device that cuts half the volume at the shooter’s ear, reduces recoil by a third and drops volume down range by one quarter, said Gregory Oberlin, a small arms engineer at the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Center Army Research Lab.”

The Mellon’s Last Patrol, and the History of Coast Guard 378 ASW and Anti-Ship Missiles

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USCGC Mellon seen here launching a Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile in 1990.

I have a bone to pick with Pacific Area, public affairs (D11-DG-M-PACAREA-PA@uscg.mil). First I got a news release dated Friday, Jul 17, 2020 7:22 pm. Reading it I found what I thought were errors and emailed them with comments.

I wrote,

Just read the news release and there are some errors in this paragraph.

“In January of 1990, the Mellon was the first and only Coast Guard cutter to become fitted with an anti-ship missile. The cutter also received an anti-submarine warfare suite that included the AN/SQS-26 sonar and Mark 46 torpedoes. The suite and anti-ship missile served as proof of capability for all Coast Guard cutters; however, they were later removed due to budget constraints.”
Mellon may have been the only 378 to test fire a harpoon, but all the 378s were equipped to launch Harpoon.
The 378s were all built with an ASW suite that included the AN/SQS-38 sonar and Mk32 torpedo tubes for launching light weight ASW torpedoes, first the Mk44, then the Mk46.
The FRAM replaced the 5″/38 and Mk56 gun fire control system with the 76mm Mk75 gun and Mk92 fire control system, added the Phalanx CIWS (Close In Weapon System), they received equipment to support the LAMPS I ASW helicopter and a collapsible hangar was added.
None of the 378s including Mellon were ever equipped with the AN/SQS-26 sonar.
The ASW equipment was removed after the Soviet Union collapsed which largely eliminated the submarine threat.
–
Three days later PACAREA sent out a revised news release dated Mon, Jul 20, 2020 9:41 am. You can see it repeated here. It included this revised paragraph:
–
“In January of 1990, the Mellon was the first of five Coast Guard cutters to become fitted with an anti-ship missile. The cutter also received an anti-submarine warfare suite that included the AN/SQS-38 sonar and Mark 46 torpedoes. The suite and anti-ship missile served as proof of capability for all Coast Guard cutters; however, they were later removed due to budget constraints.”
–
We have noted some tendency for the Coast Guard to be somewhat careless in preserving and telling its history, but this telling says that Mellon got her sonar and torpedoes at the same time she got her Harpoons and then quickly had them removed because it cost money. It ignores the fact that Mellon and the other eleven 378s had been equipped with sonar and torpedoes since they were built, beginning with Hamilton in 1967. For over 20 years these ships were part of the US response to the Soviet Union’s submarine threat. For over 20 years ASW training was part of their annual refresher training and it only stopped after the collapse of the Soviet Union seemed to mark the end of the submarine threat.
USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715)

Mini-torpedo, Torpedo Decoys, and three Gun Systems from Leonardo

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Graphic from Leonardo

Naval News reports on a virtual conference expo showcasing five systems presented by Leonardo aimed at Middle Eastern clientele.

There is information about an anti-torpedo defense system, the 5″/64 gun, the familiar 76mm/62 gun, and the Marlin 40mm gun systems and their associated ammunitions and support systems. But the real surprise was a mini-torpedo, called Black Scorpion.

Graphic from Leonardo

I have a hard time figuring what will be done with this mini(micro)-torpedo. They say it will work from “Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), SEAL Delivery Vehicles (SDVs), Patrol Boats, Fast Attack Crafts, helicopter/drones, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and Unmanned Underwater Vessels (UUVs).”

Launchers are illustrated for submarines, fast inshore attack craft, and helicopters and drones.

There are a lot of unexplained parameters for this weapon. Presumably it can operate at depth some depth if it is to be launched from a submarine but there is specific reference to ASW in the littoral, so it might be relatively shallow. What is its range and speed? Less than 44 inches long and with an all up weight of less than 44 pounds, it is unlikely the warhead is much larger than ten pounds. It unlikely to sink anything of more than about 100 tons, but it might be enough to disable the rudder or propeller on even a large ship. There are warnings in the text not to expect too much.

“The Leonardo conference host presenter stressed that this is a miniature lightweight torpedo and performs as such. Thus, the user should not expect the range, performance, and characteristics of a comparable lightweight, medium, or heavyweight torpedo…”

I sure would like to see some testing of this and the Grumman Common Very Light Weight Torpedo which is about five times larger. One of them might be the ship stopper the Coast Guard needs.