Tag Archives: USCGC Stone (WMSL 758)

Modern Problems Require a Modern Surface Action Group

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How about these images of a three-pack of American maritime assets steaming into the Bay of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, this week under Operation Southern Spear. They include the 509-foot grey-hulled Flight IIA Burke, USS Stockdale (DDG 106), the 418-foot Berthoff-class National Security Cutter USCGC Stone (WMSL 758), and the old-school all-diesel 210-foot Reliance-class medium endurance cutter USCGC Diligence (WMEC 616).

Talk about a high-low-low mix.

Note that Stockton has an ODIN laser system in place of her forward CIWS

Of course, all the heavy lifting in the little SAG falls on the shoulders of Stockdale, while Stone and Diligence (the latter with a 10.5-foot draught) are more (wait for it) more littoral constabulary assets that can operate closer in-shore while still under the DDG’s protective umbrella.

Still, this can point to the detached SAG of the future.

Pacific Slug Fest Limitations: It all comes down to VLS

The Navy currently has around 8,700 VLS cells across 81 surface ships (7 x CGs, 74 DDGs) and 28 submarines (24 x SSNs, 4 SSGNs), but at least 1,470 of those cells will vanish in the next four years as the final seven Ticos and the only four SSGNs are removed from the fleet after 30-40 years of service.

That’s bad.

New incoming DDGs and SSNs in those four years will make good about half of those lost cells (in the best-case scenario), meaning that, no matter how you slice it, the Navy is facing a drop of something like 600-800 VLS cells by the end of the decade.

The first of 12 building 10,000-ton Block V Virginias, carrying 40 VLS cells up from the standard 12 cells (an idea to counter the loss of the long-in-the-teeth SSGNs), will start to arrive in 2028-29 and hopefully will help address some of the shortfall but even with that the Navy is still going to be light on cells at a time in which it should be growing the number, not struggling to (almost) maintain it.

Plus, there is the problem of reloading a VLS cell with more munitions as soon as possible, preferably without having to return to, say, 1,700nm to Guam or 5,000nm Pearl from an event off Taiwan. After all, once a DDG fires off its 96 cells, it is just a gunboat. A $2.5 billion LCS.

The Navy is aware of that and, in the past couple of years, has been advancing at-sea VLS replenishment, recently testing the Transferable Rearming Mechanism (TRAM) to reload Mk 41 VLS cells from supply vessels (e.g., USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) and USNS Gopher State (TACS-4)). t but it is far from standard.

This could lead to a new class of VLS-rearming destroyer tenders, a concept that should have been fielded in the 1980s along with the first Burkes and Flight I Ticos.

Sailors from Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One (NCHB-1) onboard USS Chosin (CG-65) work with the ship’s force to complete a demonstration of the Transferrable Rearming Mechanism VLS Reloading At-Sea with the USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) on Oct. 11, 2024, in the Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy Photo.)

Another option is MODEP, which is proposed by Leidos to repurpose surplus oil rigs into mobile missile defense and resupply bases that can be moved forward. Concepts have them carrying as many as 512 VLS loads.

MODEP:

The bad news on this is that swapping out empty VLS canisters for full ones can be time-consuming, meaning it could take as long as four days to refill an empty DDG. And that is if the weather and seas permit.

New frigates to the rescue

Another bite at closing the VLS gap, while putting more hulls in more places, is to add a 30-40 foot plug to Flight II of the Navy’s new fast frigate, which is based on the Coast Guard’s 418-foot NSC, as exemplified by the USCGC Stone above. The plug would only transform the length-to-beam ratio from its currently tubby 8:1 closer to a more svelte 9:1, but would add enough room to wedge a 64-cell strike-length VLS into the cutter/frigate and its ancillary wiring/support/venting space.

Plus, Ingalls has been spitballing such concepts for years, so you can bet they have guys already doing the math on this.

Ingalls Shipbuilding VLS-equipped Sea Control Patrol Frigate based on National Security Cutter. This was a concept as far back as 2017. It has the same length as the current NSC, but just add a 30-foot plug (maybe not even that long), and you could make a 64-cell VLS a thing

Yes, the ship doesn’t carry the sensors to wring the capability out of SM-2/3 anti-air missiles, but, pairing one of these Flight II NSC/FFs with a DDG could be the ticket, running cooperative engagement to bring many more missiles to the fight– akin to how 24 of the 31 Spruance-class destroyers were converted to feature a 61-cell Mark 41 in place of their original forward Mk 16 ASROC launchers during the 1980s and 90s. That upgrade allowed the VLS Sprucans to fire (lots) of Tomahawks and carry vertical-launch ASROCs instead of their old Matchbox launchers, which were limited to just eight ready rounds plus eight reloads.

The Sprucan USS Deyo, after her ASROC Matchbox launcher was removed and replaced with the 61-cell VLS. Also note the Phalanx CIWS mounts port and starboard.

A run of 20 of these theoretical Flight II NSC/FFs, built in 4-5 ship batches, awarded all-up to 2-3 yards, could backfill 1,280 VLS cells to the fleet. Fast.

Further, as these new frigates, just good for 27-28 knots (and only in bursts) likely won’t travel with the carrier battle groups all the time, by taking two Flight II NSC/FFs with their combined 128 VLS cells, and adding them to a DDG, then you have a task group capable of independent operation as a SAG that can count 228 VLS slots as well as four MH-60 airframes, assorted UAVs, 1 5-inch Mark 45, two 57mm guns, two (or three) 21-cell RAM launchers, 32 NSM anti-ship missiles, and assorted 25mm/.50 cal mounts.

In short, they could control a lot of sea and air space while only tying down three “little boys” and about 600 bluejackets. Plus, they could call at a lot more ports than a CVBG or ARG.

Nine such SAGs, operating on the periphery of the nine active carrier battle groups and nine active amphibious ready groups, could really add a wild card to naval tactics, especially in any sort of 2030s peer clash in the Western Pacific.

Greyhound and pups

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How about this great, and very diverse, image released this week as part of Operation Pacific Viper, a joint DOW/DHS operation run through Southern Command that has bagged a reported 75,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since early August, averaging over 1,800 pounds interdicted daily.

You have one Navy and three different Coast Guard blue water classes represented in profile. A rare shot.

(U.S. Navy Photo by Naval Aircrewman (Tactical Helicopter) 2nd Class Teague Bullard)

The include, from left to right, the 270-foot Legend (Bear) class USCGC Seneca (WMEC 906), the ancient 210-foot Reliance-class USCGC Venturous (WMEC 625), the 509-foot Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102), and the frigate-sized 418-foot National Security Cutter USCGC Stone (WMSL 758).

While Sampson was commissioned in 2007, and Stone in 2021, Seneca dates to 1987, while the Ohio-born Venturous, one of just eight of her 16 sisters still in active service, was commissioned in 1968.

Another head-on shot, with an HC-130J overhead, but in a different formation with Sampson and Stone on the outside and the smaller boys in the middle. While they look high speed, the group can’t be going over 16 knots, which is the 210’s top speed these days.

Coast Guard and partner agencies support Operation Pacific Viper in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in August 2025. Operation Pacific Viper is a counter-drug operation focused on interdicting, seizing, and disrupting transshipments of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Nonetheless, they have all been very busy, across 20 interdictions that also netted 59 individuals suspected of narco-trafficking. And you know what happens to narco boats in the Eastern Pacific once the evidence has been documented and suspects removed.

They get deep-sixed.

USCG photo 250918-G-IV660-1003

Bertholfs Hitting it Hard

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The Coast Guard only has 10 Legend (Bertholf) class National Security Cutters to its name.

Ordered starting in 2005 to replace the long-serving Vietnam-era 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters that had almost 50 years on their hulls, the Bertholfs are the largest non-logistics/icebreaker cutters the service has ever had, pushing 418 feet oal with a 4,600-ton displacement.

They have a lot going for them, with an economical CODAG engineering plant that allows for a 12,000nm range when on patrol and bursts of “over 28 knots,” they have extensive helicopter/UAV support facilities and a modest self-defense capability.

When it comes to sensors, while they aren’t in the same category as a true frigate, they have decent air/surface-search radars, IFF/TACAN, a SLQ-32 EW suite, and a sonar that reportedly has mine-hunting capabilities.

While great for busting smugglers and policing duties, the NSCs are armed akin to an LCS…

Importantly, they have all the goodies needed to operate as part of a modern naval task force including Link 11 and Link 16 and underway replenishment gear, allowing them to both tank and transfer from larger vessels and send to smaller ones– which allows them a “mother ship” role to smaller cutters on a deployment.

As some proof in the pudding, three of the service’s Bertholfs were recently underway in three different parts of the world, adding a speck of white to otherwise haze gray formations.

USCGC Midgett (WMSL-757), taking part in RIMPAC ’24 off Hawaii, was captured in a great shot last week conducting a dual transfer with the Italian Thaon di Revel-class offshore patrol vessel ITS Raimondo Montecuccoli (P432) from the Royal Canadian Navy replenishment ship MV Asterix.

Photo by Royal Canadian Navy Sailor First Class Brendan McLoughlin.

Meanwhile, the crew of the USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) returned to their home port in North Charleston last week following a 63-day patrol in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea in support of homeland defense and counterdrug operations.

During her deployment, she steamed in tandem with U.S. Second Fleet and Canadian Joint Task Force-Atlantic maritime forces.

Canadian Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ville de Québec (FFH 332) and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone (WMSL 758) steam in formation, on June 9, 2024, while underway in the Atlantic Ocean. Stone and Ville de Québec operated in the Atlantic Ocean in the U.S. 2nd Fleet area of operations in support of maritime stability and security in the region. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Alana Kickhoefer)

Likewise, the crew of the USCGC James (WMSL 754) returned to their home port in North Charleston last week after completing a 98-day patrol in the South Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

While down south, James worked along with the George Washington Carrier Group, called in several Latin American ports, conducted a live fire exercise, and steamed alongside ships from Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil.

Legend-class cutter USCGC James (WSML 754), left, and Brazilian navy Niterói-class frigates União (F 45) and Independência (F 44) operate in formation with Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) as part of a bilateral exercise between the U.S. and the Brazilian navy in the Atlantic Ocean, May 18, 2024. Porter is deployed as part of Southern Seas 2024 which seeks to enhance capability, improve interoperability, and strengthen maritime partnerships with countries throughout the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility through joint, multinational, and interagency exchanges and cooperation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David C. Fines)

Besides these three Bertholfs, keep in mind that a fourth member of the class, USCGC Waesche (WMSL-751), is still underway in the Westpac and has been operating in the South China Sea with white hulled partners from South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Julia VanLuven)

Going further, a fifth Bertholf, USCGC Kimball (WMSL-756), has been bird-dogging a Chinese task force that was poking around the Aleutians earlier this month.

That’s five very busy hulls out of the ten the Coast Guard has. Talk about punching above its weight class.