New Sentinels for the Persian Gulf
This weekend Coast Guard Sector Key West waved goodbye to the newly delivered Sentinel (Webber)-class Fast Response Cutters USCGC Robert Goldman (WPC 1142) and USCGC Charles Moulthrope (WPC 1141). The 154-foot cutters were recently delivered by Bollinger and were purpose-built for their new mission.
The two cutters are headed to the Arabian Gulf in support of Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia in Bahrain. They are equipped with the CG-HALLTS system, a hailer that has laser and LRAD capabilities, as well as a special S-band radar with full-time 360-degree coverage, and other goodies.
If you note, they four have Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) on the O-1 deck as well as four Sierra Nevada Modi RPS-42 S-Band pulse doppler radar arrays on their masts. The cutters’ Mk38s are also painted FDE.
Note the 270-foot Famous-class medium endurance cutter USCGC Mohawk (WMEC-913) in the background– the last class in American service with a MK 75 OTO.
As noted by the Coast Guard:
PATFORSWA works with Naval Forces Central Command to conduct maritime operations forwarding U.S. interests. These efforts are to deter and counter disruptive countries, defeat violent extremism, and strengthen partner nations’ maritime capabilities to secure the maritime environment in the Central Command area of responsibility.
Under Naval control, PATFORSWA first deployed to the region in 2002 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with six Reagan-era 110-foot Island-class patrol boats and has been extensively involved with Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces there ever since, augmenting the Navy’s 170-foot Cyclone-class PCs.
Much more capable craft than the aging 110s, the FRCs are expected to replace the latter on a one-for-one basis.
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