Tag Archives: OPC schedule

Bollinger Looks to Get a Slice of that Sweet, Sweet OPC Pie

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With as many as 25 of the Coast Guard’s 4,500-ton/360-foot new Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter/Maritime Security Cutter, Medium set to be built (don’t be surprised if the number of hulls increases) a big name in the USCG build game is trying to get in on the action.

New Orleans-based Bollinger and the Coasties go way back, delivering 170 vessels in the last three decades, all of which have had a long and (mostly) successful history. This includes the 110-foot Island-class (49 delivered), the 87-foot Marine Protector class (77 delivered), and now the 158-foot Sentinel-class (44 of 64 delivered to date). The yard also built the Navy’s Cyclone-class patrol ships (14 delivered) in the 1990s and is building the 5,100-ton/263-foot Navajo-class rescue and salvage ships (7 building) as well.

Now, the yard wants to step up to the larger cutters and has submitted a package to get in on the second flight of 11 OPCs, vying against Eastern Shipbuilding in Panama City, a largely commercial tug/supply boat company, that is building at least the first two of the initial flight of 11. The ships are projected for a rapid build-out with the Coast Guard expecting the first 22 by the early-to-mid 2030s, which sounds far away but really isn’t.

They will be replacing the 30-to-50-year-old 1,300-ton, 210-foot Reliance-class and 1,800-ton, 270-foot Famous-class medium-endurance cutters, which, along with the circa 1967 former Navy Edenton-class rescue ship which has been serving as USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39), amount to some 30 hulls.

“Bollinger is the right shipyard at the right time to build the Offshore Patrol Cutter program for the U.S. Coast Guard,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger President and CEO. “Our long history building for the Coast Guard is unparalleled and has shown time and time again that Bollinger can successfully deliver the highest quality vessels on an aggressive production schedule.”

Bollinger was a contender in every step of the U.S. Coast Guard’s OPC acquisition process, including the execution of the Stage 1 Preliminary and Contract Design, where the company was included in the final three shipyards, as well as execution of the OPC Stage 2 Industry Study.

The OPCs are essentially a scaled-down light frigate, with lots of commonality sensor and weapon-wise with the Navy’s LCS and planned new Constellation-class FFGs, as well as the Coast Guard’s larger National Security program cutters.

This includes the BAE Mk110 (Bofors’ 57Mk3, which uses an interesting Mk295 3P fuzed ammo), an SPS-77 (Saab Sea Giraffe) 3D radar with gun cueing so that the 57mm can be used for AAA/anti-missile defense, a stabilized Mk 38 25mm gun (that can be upgraded to a 30mm or 50mm barrel on the same mount), two stabilized .50 cals and four good old M2s. Northrop Grumman was just named the systems integrator for C5ISR and control systems. They can interface with the fleet via Link 22 and have IFF/TACAN systems.

There is also weight and space available for anti-ship missiles and a CIWS and they can carry an HH-60-sized helicopter which means, in a pinch, they can support an Oceanhawk/Seahawk and a UAV at the same time due to a large hangar. 

The Sea Giraffe AMB has proved successful on the Independence-class LCS (the variant that seems to be having fewer issues) as well as the Swedish Visby class corvettes, Canadian Halifax-class frigates, Singapore’s Victory-class corvettes et. al. while the Bofors gun is used both far and wide overseas and the Navy is looking to up the lethality of that program as well since they are installing it on the Constellations.

Pascagoula, Miss. (Feb. 11, 2008)- The MK 110 57mm gun was fired off the bow of the Coast Guard’s first National Security Cutter, Bertholf, on Feb. 11 during sea trials (Northrop Grumman photo)

The 57mm’s 13-pound 3P Mk 295 Mod 0 cartridge projectile section delivers over 8,000 pre-formed tungsten fragments in reaction to 420 grams of PBX-explosive. It has a range of “at least” nine nm. (BAE)

The OPC also has lots of soft kills such as a newer version of the Slick 32, Nulka, and other countermeasures.

The program should prove interesting and could contrast well against the LCS debacle.

OPC seems right on track

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Eastern Shipbuilding Group announced last week they successfully completed the Offshore Patrol Cutter ICDR Milestone for the U.S. Coast Guard on time and under budget, which is a good sign, esp since the class is the first warship the company is making.

ESG has options for production of up to nine vessels with a potential total value of $2.38 billion (or about $265m per hull, which is a fairly good deal when you consider the cheapest LCS is $432 million) while the USCG is expected to order as many as 25 of the vessels to replace a like number of smaller and much older vessels.

OPC Characteristics:
•Length: 360 feet
•Beam: 54 feet
•Draft: 17 feet
•Sustained Speed: 22 Plus knots
•Range: 8500 Plus nautical miles
•Endurance: 60 Days

I say replace the Mk38 with a C-RAM, shoehorn a towed sonar, ASW tubes and an 8-pack Mk41 VLS with LRASMs aboard and call it a day.

What is this LRASM?

Update on Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutters

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offshore patrol cutter ESG VARD 7Seems the Panama City commercial shipbuilder who is crafting up to 25 new mil-spec OPVs (light frigates) for the USCG is getting some serious subcontractors.

Announced Monday:

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract from Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) for the design of C4ISR [command, control, communications, computers and intelligence] and machinery control systems (MCS) for the U.S. Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs). The systems being supplied include integrated bridge systems, command and control consoles, navigation and combat data distribution systems, ship-wide computer network systems, machinery control systems and propulsion control systems

“Our suite of integrated C4ISR and machinery control systems will provide the Coast Guard the long-term offshore capability needed to perform Coast Guard missions,” said Todd Leavitt, vice president, maritime systems business unit, Northrop Grumman. “This high priority investment will allow the Coast Guard to affordably and efficiently modernize the fleet, while extending their existing capabilities and effectively addressing the changing needs of their missions.”

In other OPC related news, I already talked about how the design is based on Norwegian-owned/Singapore stock exchange registered VARD’s series of OPVs in use around the globe (Ireland, Mauritania, Canada, and New Zealand,), and now it looks like Italian naval shipmaker heavyweight Fincantieri  is moving to take full control of the company which has ten strategically located shipbuilding facilities, including five in Norway, two in Romania, two in Brazil and one in Vietnam. Fincantieri already owns 55.63 percent of the company’s public stock and now wants the rest.

Well, the USCG decided to fish rather than cut bait

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After an evolutionary process that has been dragging on since for 15 years, the U.S. Coast Guard has awarded a $110 million (which could turn into an estimated $10.5 billion if all options are used) contract to build a new generation of frigate-sized offshore patrol cutters. It will be the largest shipbuilding program the branch has ever embarked on with as many as 25 hulls built.

The hunt began as part of the Integrated Deepwater System Program back in 2001 which led to early talks with five companies, then it was whittled down to three with Mississippi naval builders VT Halter Marine and Ingalls Shipbuilding excluded in 2014 (as was the design’s stern launching ramp).

The three remaining were: Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Florida; Bollinger Shipyards in Louisiana and Bath Iron Works in Maine. Bath is a heavy hitter, building the $4 billion Zumwalt and her follow-ons as well as DDG51 class destroyers. Bollinger is a Coast Guard darling, creating their 110-foot Island, 87-foot Marine Protector, and 154-foot Sentinel classes of patrol boats and patrol cutters.

But both Bollinger and BIW were left smoking this week as the award for the first nine OPCs went to Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. of Panama City, FL (who teamed with Canada’s STX/VARD Marine–part of Italy’s frigate making Fincantieri concern– Northrop Grumman, Quantic Engineering, and MAN on the design).

What have ESG built before? As for military ships, they are in a Design Study and Analysis for the Landing Craft, Utility (LCU) 1700 by the United States Navy, but that’s about it. They are commercial ship experienced, however, with some 150 vessels up to 433-feet built in recent years ranging from tugs to dredgers to trawlers and school ships.

The design is the VARD 7 100m but tweaked.

offshore patrol cutter ESG VARD 7 offshore patrol cutter ESG VARD 7

Eastern Shipbuilding Group’s notional design is 360 feet long, with a beam of 54 feet and a draft of 17 feet. The OPCs will have a range of 10,200 nautical miles (at 14 knots) on a set of MTU diesels and endurance for 60-day patrol cycles. The OPC will conduct missions including law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction search and rescue, and other homeland security and defense operations. Each OPC will feature a flight deck and hangar capable of carrying a MH60 sized bird and advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. The ship will embark 3 OTH boats and be capable of 22knots when wide open.

No word on manning of these ships, but similar designed craft in use in Ireland and New Zealand are being run with 30-5o man crews (with extra berths for aircrew and transients), which is a huge reduction from the current 75 person complement on the Coast Guard’s 210’s and 100-man crews on the 270s.

The VARD 7 090 design was recently selected by the Irish Naval Service to replace their older LE Roisin and LE Niamh ships. The Royal New Zealand Navy uses a VARD 85m design as their Protector-class offshore patrol vessel and the Mauritian Coast Guard has used a similar vessel for the past 20 years, so the OPC has some legit OPV lineage.

LE Samuel Beckett P61, a VARD 90m design.

LE Samuel Beckett P61, a VARD 90m design.

HMNZS Wellington a VARD 85m design

HMNZS Wellington a VARD 85m design

Shrinking numbers 40…28…25..?

The OPC will replace the branch’s Medium Endurance Cutters (WMECs). Back in the 1988 the Coast Guard had 40 WMECs to include two classes purpose built as cutters: 13 newish 270-foot Bear-class and 16 1960s-era 210-foot Reliance-class; as well as a number of WWII vintage ships converted to the task to include the 230-foot Storis, 3 213-foot Diver-class rescue and salvage ships (Yocona, Acushnet, Escape), 4 205-foot Cherokee/Navajo-class auxiliary tugs (Ute, Lipan, Chilula, Cherokee, Tamaroa) and 3 “white hulled” 180 foot buoy tenders (see this week’s Warship Wednesday).

The newest cutter in the fleet, USCGC Mohawk (WMEC-913), was commissioned in 1991, making her 27-years young and not getting any younger.

Since Mohawk‘s commissioning, these 40 hulls were trimmed to 28 as the WWII vessels and a couple of the 210s were retired (USCGC Courageous struck in 2001 after 33 years service and was transferred to to Sri Lanka where she currently serves as P-621 SLNS Samudura. USCGC Durable transferred to Colombia in 2003 as Valle del Cauca. Both were removed from service due to the “increasing age of the deepwater fleet after 30 years of service, and due to mounting, costly maintenance requirements”).

During this period only one ship was added and kept, the 28-year-old surplus Edenton-class salvage and rescue ship USS Edenton (ATS-1) transferred as USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39) to replace the Storis in Alaska.

USCGC Vigilant returning from an 8-week patrol. The USCG has 14 of these now 50-year old 210-footers left that OPC will replace

USCGC Vigilant (WMEC-6217) returning from an 8-week patrol. The USCG has 14 of these now 50-year old 210-footers left that OPC will replace, likely first. USCG photo.

USCGC Northland (WMEC-904) returning from patrol last week. These 270-footers were a compromise design in the 1980s that replaced the old 327-foot WWII Treasury class cutters and others. They are the last in the U.S. fleet to mount the Mk75 76mm gun

USCGC Northland (WMEC-904) returning from patrol last week. These now 30-year old 270-footers were a controversial compromise design in the 1980s that replaced the old 327-foot WWII Treasury class cutters and others. They are the last in the U.S. fleet to mount the Mk75 76mm gun and are the newest WMECs in the Guard. USCG photo

Now, the atrophy will continue as a maximum of 25 (expect that to be trimmed to 20 over the years) OPCs will replace the 28 WMECs. On the bright side, the OPC is larger, and the artist conception image from Eastern shows a 57mm Mk110 forward, a 25mm Mk96/38 aft, and six M2 mounts as well as a SRBOC and a AN/SLQ-32(v) EW suite– which is far more armament that the current cutters they are replacing save for the 270s. If you ask me, they should add a couple Harpoon cans amidships,  some Mk.32 ASW tubes on deck and swap out the 25mm for a Sea Ram, but hey…

With the figure of $2.38 billion for the first nine cutters, this amortizes out to $264 million a pop, or about half the price of the similarly sized and armed Navy LCS vessels. While these ships are very slow when compared  to LCS, they are a few knots faster than the 16-19 knot max speed WMECs currently in service.

“The Offshore Patrol Cutter acquisition is the Coast Guard’s highest investment priority, and we are proud to announce this important milestone,” said Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft in a statement. “The Offshore Patrol Cutter will replace our aging medium endurance cutters and provide the majority of offshore presence by the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet. Whether combating transnational organized criminal networks off Central America or patrolling in the increasingly accessible Arctic, the Offshore Patrol Cutter will ensure our Nation’s maritime security and economic interests are preserved for decades to come.”

Bath is expected to protest. 

The first OPC is expected to be delivered in fiscal year 2021 at which point the oldest WMEC in the fleet, USCGC Reliance (WMEC-615), will be 57. Assuming two hulls will be ordered per year, and a three-year build out, the last of newest of the current WMECs, Mohawk, could be replaced around 2034, when she will be hitting age 43.

Or, in Coast Guard parlance, just getting broken in.

The OPCs Are Coming….slowly….maybe….we promise

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The Coast Guard has some elderly assets. Its workhorses past in blue water are its medium endurance cutters. Basically what other countries would classify as an OPV or light frigate, they are medium sized warships, generally under 2000-tons, with a main gun in the 76mm-25mm range, some small gun mounts, and a helicopter deck/hanger. Slow ships with a long range, they spend upto 270 days per year per vessel offshore for months at a time. The Coast Guard has 13 270-foot Bear-class ships built 1979-1989, 14 210-foot Reliance class cutters built 1962–1968 and modernized in the 1990s, and the one-off 1971-era 283-foot former Navy  Edenton-class salvage and rescue ship renamed Alex Haley that pulls Alaska patrol, for a total of 28 ships, ranging in age from 23-50 years of age.

The USCG has decided to move forward with the last phase of the Deepwater Program, the Offshore Patrol Cutter, to replace these mid-size legacy ships mentioned above. They have just this week asked for bids and are moving forward

Phase I will be for lead ship, eight to ten follow ships and ancillary services and supplies. According to the timeline the initial contract to the top three designs will be awarded sometime in FY13. Final contract will be awarded for the single selected design 1QFY16 and the keel laid 3QFY17. The first hull will hit the water 3QFY20 and upto 25 hulls built at a rate of about two a year. This puts the last of 25 OPCs into service sometime around 2032. At that point the youngest 270-foot Bear class medium endurance cutters will be approaching fifty years of age and the 210s, if any are left, will be closer to seventy.

Stranger things have happened.