NavyRecognition is reporting that the Coast Guard has contracted to replace the gyros on fourteen 210 foot Reliance Class WMECs, in addition to those on ten Juniper class 225 foot WLBs that were contracted for in April.
The gyros are reported to use a new technology and be both cheaper and more reliable.
Seeing that it appears we will have most 210s around for more than another decade, at least they are getting some newer equipment.
(My only question is, there are 16 Juniper class, what about the other six?)
The Boston Globe has a nice post about the now 69 year old, 36 foot, wooden hull, motor surfboat Bernie Webber and his pick-up crew used to rescue 32 crew members trapped on the stern of an oil tanker, SS Pendleton, that had broken in half in a storm, and the people who restored and care for it.
Australia has been talking about getting new ships for sometime, but recently they announced a policy of “continuous shipbuilding” in an effort to maintain a domestic warship building capability.
While submarines and frigates have gotten most of the press, and will get most of the money, they also intend to build Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) to replace their Armidale class patrol craft, which have proven not quite up to the demanding missions they have been assigned. (They will also be building patrol boats to be distributed to Pacific island nations.)
“The construction of offshore patrol vessels to replace the Armidale class has also been moved forward to 2018.”
2018 puts them two years ahead of the Frigates, so this may be a lead in for the more sophisticated project. I suspect they will be strongly influenced in the selection of their OPV by New Zealand’s experience. due to the frequent contact and cooperation between the Australian and New Zealand Navies.
The New Zealand OPVs, HMNZS Otago and Wellington, appear to be progenitors of Eastern’s OPC proposal, so there is a good chance the Australians will be building something like the OPC. The CG should make its selection of the final OPC design about a year before Australia has to make their OPV design selection, so perhaps they could benefit from the Coast Guard’s selection process.
Today we celebrate Coast Guard Day. The Coast Guard can point to many achievements over its history, but for me, our greatest achievement was the Coast Guard’s response to Katrina. I was out of the service by then, but I watched the news reports and felt immense pride in being associated with the service.
Katrina was ten years ago this month and a documentary will be aired late this month on PBS stations in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The film is not a lavishly produced summer blockbuster, it is a student film, but was apparently a labor of love, the idea of a “Coast Guard brat.” You can learn more about the film and its genesis here and here.
Navyrecognition reports that a successful test of modified Hellfire missiles for use in the Surface to Surface Missile Module (SSMM) planned for the Littoral Combat Ship has paved the way for operational deployment of the system in late 2017.
We have talked about these missiles before. They seem to be an ideal way to deal with the threat of small, fast, highly maneuverable boats that might be employed by terrorists, and absent more effective weapons, may provide some capability against even large vessels. Unlike gun systems, they promise high first round accuracy and lethality, with very little chance of a round going astray and hitting something unintended.
The projected SSMM would provide storage and launch facilities for up to 24 rounds. 24 rounds would weigh only about 2500 pounds. The launcher and support systems is unlikely to weigh more than that, suggesting and all up weight of about 5000 pounds, far less than either the 76mm Mk75 gun or the 57mm Mk110 (two and a half tons compared to eight or nine tons). Both of these guns are commonly used on missile and patrol boats smaller than the Webber class WPCs. Also unlike a gun system, the SSMM is unlikely to require any significant deck reinforcement. It would almost certainly fit on all large cutters and perhaps the WPCs and WPBs as well. (It should be included on Offshore Patrol Cutters from day 1.) If the 24 round system is too large to be comfortably carried by smaller cutters, it is likely a smaller, say four round, system could be quickly and economically developed for Coast Guard use and perhaps for the Navy’s MkVI patrol boat as well.
If we take the Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security mission seriously we really should be looking seriously at acquiring these systems, not just for the new ships as they are built, but also for the existing fleet with the idea that the systems would be transferred to the newer ships as the older ones are replaced.
The Navy should be willing to pay for these systems under existing inter-service agreements.
As noted before, if we need to stop a terrorist attack, we are far more likely to have a WPC or WPB on scene than a larger cutter. For this reason, arming some the Webber class in each homeport should be the first priority. Unfortunately the Webber Class are not geographically wide-spread, so we should look at mounting systems on existing MECs and WPBs to insure all potential targets have some protection until the entire fleet is armed.
I would say there are places where they might be mounted on Coast Guard stations ashore, to act as gate keepers for the ports against clandestine attacks, but coast defense is still an Army mission. Perhaps this is something we should be talking about too. If not Coast Guard manned defenses (which is probably the proper solution), then perhaps placement of unused SSMMs with their associated Navy crews on Coast Guard facilities or small detachments of army troops with their weapons to perform this function.
gCaptain is reporting that, since 2012, the Irish Naval Service has been experimenting with using kite sails to give their ships a fuel saving boost and to hoist aloft surveillance equipment up to 300 meters (1000 feet) into the air. They now consider the technology mature enough to be commercialized.
Putting sensors at 1000 feet gives a horizon distance of 38.7 miles compared with 8.7 miles for a more typical height of 50 feet.
The Irish Naval Service, their missions, and their ships look more like the US Coast Guard than the US Navy. This technology might have applications for the Coast Guard. Perhaps it is worth a look by the Research and Development Center.
It looks like the Navy may be working on something that looks similar, TALONS, but is only intended to hoist sensors, not improve fuel economy.
The title is not really the thrust of the article. It features the experiences of a man who served on the ship when she was in the German Navy and later came to find her in the US.
BairdMaritime is reporting the five nations bordering the Arctic Ocean have agreed to prohibit fishing in the “doughnut hole” that lies outside the EEZ of any of the five nations.
“A declaration has been signed by the five countries that surround the Arctic Ocean, to prevent unregulated commercial fishing of the 1.1 million-square-nautical mile “doughnut hole” which falls outside of any country’s jurisdiction.
“Canada, the US, Greenland, Norway and Russia have signed a document stating that they will not allow any vessels to conduct any commercial fishing until one or more international mechanisms are in place to manage fishing in accordance with recognised international standards.”
This really isn’t an issue now, because there is no fishing there now. Still I wonder how we can regulate fishing outside the EEZ. Still, good to see they are out ahead of the problem.
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