Tag Archives: 34 foot Sea Ark

Navy orders fresh batch of 40 Foot Patrol Boats

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The U.S. Navy appears to be very much still in the small boat biz, despite the fact that it has retired the 82-foot Mark V SOC, zeroed out FY23 funding for the Mark VI patrol boat (with retired boats apparently going to Ukraine), and all but disposed of the 170-foot Cylones in lieu of the Coast Guard backfilling with the new Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters.

While the above effectively guts the expeditionary small boats for Big Blue, the fleet is still in need of security force vessels to protect bases and roadsteads and serve as range patrol. 

As part of a plan to replace the aging 117 SeaArk 34-foot Dauntless-class patrol boats and 17 SAFE Boats 25-foot Oswald-class patrol boats used for such security needs with up to 120 new PB(X), the following appeared in the Pentagon’s contracts announcements on 24 April:

ReconCraft LLC,* Anchorage, Alaska, is awarded a $35,920,405 firm-fixed-price contract for 12 40-foot patrol boats. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $36,141,587. Work will be performed in Clackamas, Oregon, and is expected to be completed by September 2025. Fiscal 2022 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $28,977,570 (81%); and fiscal 2023 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,942,835 (19%) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C § 637(a)) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19.8. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-23-C-2201).

Via Reconcraft:

This is in addition to as many as 119 planned Force Protection-Medium (FP-M) patrol boats from Lake Assault Boats which have been in low-rate production since 2020. The 33-foot-long aluminum V-hull FP-M will be used for “harbor and waterway patrols, interrogation of other waterborne assets, and escorting large vessels in and out of ports in various weather and water conditions.”

The Navy’s Other Small Boats

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With the promised retirement of the dozen low-mileage Mark VI patrol boats by the Navy, it should be noted that service is not totally absent of small boats, still having the 33-foot SOC-R riverine boats of SBT-22 and the assorted 82-foot Mark V boats in the SWCC teams.

Then there are other, more numerous, assets in the Maritime Expeditionary Security Force.

Via a good article at Sea Power:

180918-N-EH436-081 PORT OF DJIBOUTI, Djibouti (September 18, 2018) Intelligence Specialist 1st Class Petty Officer William Woodley, assigned to Task Group 68.6 (TG-68.6), stands watch as a crewman onboard a 34ft SeaArk patrol boat upon completion of a mission with the USNS Alan Shepard, Sept. 18, 2018. TG-68.6 is forward-deployed to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations and conducts joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. (U.S. Navy photo by Quartermaster 2nd Class Ashley Taylor)

In addition to the Mark VI PBs, the MESF operates 164 patrol craft. These include 117 SeaArk 34-foot Dauntless-class patrol boats and 17 SAFE Boats 25-foot Oswald-class patrol boats. The riverine assault craft, riverine command boats, and riverine patrol boats all have been retired and stored. The single Coastal Command Boat, a smaller predecessor to the Mark VI that was deployed to the 5th Fleet, was transferred to a test role in 2018.

Further, the Oswalds are being replaced by a series of 120 40-foot PB(X) boats over the next 10 years to replace the 34-foot and 25-foot PBs.

The Navy also has ordered 24 Force Protection-Medium (FP-M) patrol boats from Lake Assault Boats LLC, which was awarded a contract for up to 119 FP-Ms in February 2020. The 33-foot-long aluminum V-hull boats will be used for harbor and waterway patrols, interrogation of other waterborne assets, and escorting large vessels in and out of ports in various weather and water conditions. The first was scheduled for delivery this spring.