Coast Guard photo by Caleb M Critchfield. Fairbanks Morse has completed the build and testing of the two main propulsion diesel engines for the U.S. Coast Guard’s offshore patrol cutter (OPC) #1. There is where the Coast Guard’s emerging Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) enters the equation, a new ship envisioned as a more capable, better networked, larger and far more advanced, high- … Interestingly, Northrop Grumman has leveraged some of the commonality with cutting edge technology it has built into other Navy and Coast Guard ships to optimize technical performance and ensure sustained upgradeability. They will be very capable and are being built with several missions in mind. “If you are doing surveillance, you can use the ship service generators and electrical power to cruise at a reasonable speed to preserve your fuel,” Adm. Robert Papp (RET), former Coast Guard Commandant and current President of the DC offices of ESG, told The National Interest. Having spent years serving on and commanding now decades-old medium endurance cutters, Papp added that their surveillance capabilities were often limited to a surface ship radar “something inside of about 20 miles.”. Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group has cut the first steel for the US Coast Guard’s (USCG) second offshore patrol cutter (OPC). There is where the Coast Guard’s emerging Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) enters the equation, a new ship envisioned as a more capable, better networked, larger and far more advanced, high- tech medium endurance cutter than has ever existed. © Copyright 2021 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. With some cutters exceeding 50 years of service, the Coast Guard must be upgraded to meet daily challenges and remain prepared for major contingencies. The ceremony was performed and recorded without audience to comply with CDC guidelines to combat the spread of COVID-19. One of the things I focused on was I did not want to reduce future capabilities of any acquisitions program, while knowing we had to get the Coast Guard fantastic ships at affordable prices,” said Adm. Robert Papp (RET), former Coast Guard Commandant and current President of the DC offices of ESG. The Coast Guard awarded detail design for the Offshore Patrol Cutter to Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc., on September 15, 2016. “Now, because of C4ISR and the ability to share satellite data and aircraft data, we can make our ships smarter. The cutter is the first of six FRCs to be assigned to Patrol Forces Southwest Asia and stationed in Manama, Bahrain.. The Coast Guard has picked the homeport for the service’s first pair of Offshore Patrol Cutters on the East Coast, the service announced on Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Coast Guard, has granted extraordinary relief to Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) for work on the offshore patrol cutter (OPC) contract. A need to optimize the scope of available resources and propulsion efficiency is part of why the new ESG ship is built with an auxiliary hybrid electric-diesel propulsion systems to increase efficiency and loitering capability, a first in the CG fleet. While smaller than some of the largest shipbuilders, ESG officials say the company is known for building highly complex ships of very high quality, on time and on budget, and has helped design the practical design and technological configuration of the ship. Image: Eastern Shipbuilding Group. Fairbanks Morse was awarded contracts by the prime contractor, Eastern Shipbuilding Group, to build the two main propulsion engines for both the OPC #1 and OPC #2. Kris Osborn is the defense editor for the National Interest. This new dimension of technology is of great significance to Coast Guard planners, who anticipate that new levels of networked, yet disaggregated operations will increasingly be necessary. The OPCs will be capable of performing a range of missions, including maritime patrol, fisheries protection, port security, disaster response, drug interdiction and … Instead of just searching, you can direct ships exactly where they need to look,” Papp added. ESG submitted a request on June 30, 2019, for extraordinary relief after its shipbuilding facilities sustained significant damages from Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm, in October 2018. A U.S. Coast Guard report on the ship had stated that the OPC will provide a capability bridge between the national security cutter which patrols the open ocean in the most demanding maritime environments, to the smaller and the fast response cutters, which serve closer to shore. The steel cutting for offshore patrol cutter (OPC) Argus (WMSM-915) was a significant milestone for the company even after it sustained damage and work interruption due to … OPC Phase II Detail Design Contract. Packages of cocaine line the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau after the crew, working in conjunction with the Panamanian Navy, intercepted and seized the contraband from suspected smugglers during a two-month patrol off the coast of Central and South America. Interest in building follow-on Offshore Patrol Cutters is definitely alive and well. The Heritage-class cutter, also known as the Offshore Patrol Cutter and the Maritime Security Cutter, Medium, is a cutter class of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), developed as part of the Integrated Deepwater System Program and built by Eastern Shipbuilding. Papp explained that the engineering vision for the ship has, since its inception, relied upon this tactical and technical approach emphasizing networking to, among other things, expand the surveillance reach for medium endurance cutters. The service originally selected Eastern Shipbuilding Group as the preferred builder of the new class of cutters in 2016. The existing fleet of Medium Endurance Cutters are old and need to be phased out. The Navy has oilers that can refuel ships, whereas most Coast Guard ops are independent of the fleet. The Coast Guard—a component within the Department Homeland Security (DHS)—plans to spend over $12 billion over a period of 20 years to acquire a fleet of 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC), its highest investment priority and largest acquisition program. “This is the largest acquisition in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard. The OPCs will conduct missions including law enforcement, drug and migrant … The total award was valued at $110.29 million. A new GAO (Government Accountability Office) report into the U.S. Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program is critical of several aspects of the acquisition strategy and makes eight recommendations that, it says, could reduce risk. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. The Coast Guard’s now-under-construction and rapidly emerging Offshore Patrol Cutter ship (OPC) will hit the ocean next year, bringing new strategic and tactical dimensions to homeland defense and multi-service data sharing to the U.S. Navy and the Pentagon. Working in close coordination with ESG to ensure that the ship’s technical infrastructure aligned with ESG’s structural vision for the ship, design specs and technical requirements, Northrop Grumman is building the Integrated Bridge System, an integrated set of technologies connecting the helm and control centers to the ship’s propulsion, steering and navigation. The U.S. Coast Guard helps intercept dangerous shipments of illegal drugs and supports the U.S. Navy securing international waterways, thwarting terrorism, crime and piracy. All these contracts went to shipbuilder. I have reproduced their report below. Our key objectives have been to deliver affordable solutions and keep the program on track,” Michael Corrigan, Site Director of the Northrop Grumman facility in Charlottesville Virginia, where the equipment is built and tested, told The National Interest. Panama City, FL – The keel laying ceremony for the US Coast Guard’s, first of class, Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) ARGUS (WMSM-915), was held on April 28, 2020 at Eastern Shipbuilding Group’s Nelson Street facility. The OPCs will provide the majority of offshore presence for the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, bridging the capabilities of the 418-foot national security cutters, which patrol the open ocean, and the 154-foot fast response cutters, which serve closer to shore. On October 15, 2016 the Coast Guard issued a notice to proceed with the detailed design of the Offshore Patrol Cutter to Eastern Shipbuilding. Within the Coast Guard mission scope is a balanced, yet crucial need to patrol both littoral and deep-water areas as part of an integrated operational approach, a task assigned to the services’ medium endurance cutters. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. March 20, 2020 — The Coast Guard announced the… “ESG came through with a great price for the government with a ship almost matching the operational capabilities of their largest assets, but offering a significant cost reduction in both construction and over the life of the vessel. The Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), also known as the Heritage-class cutter or the Maritime Security Cutter, Medium (WMSM), is a new class of cutters being built as part of the U.S. Coast Guard Integrated Deepwater System program. A Coast Guard essay on the OPC fleet mission objectives writes that “the OPCs will provide the majority of offshore presence for the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, bridging the capabilities of the 418-foot national security cutters, which patrol the open ocean, and the 154-foot fast response cutters… Offshore Patrol Cutter. USCG Offshore Patrol Cutter. In addition, perhaps most of all, they regularly rescue people on the brink of death. Long Lead Time Materials (LLTM) was awarded in September 2017. Offshore Patrol Cutter 1 of 1 DOWNLOAD HI-RES / PHOTO DETAILS Adm. Charles W. Ray, vice commandant of the Coast Guard, tours a replica of the first offshore patrol cutter's bridge at the Eastern Shipbuilding Group shipyard in Panama City, Florida, Thursday, March 14, 2019. The US Coast Guard has awarded eight contracts to eight shipbuilders for Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) industry studies, in a bid to return the program back on track. “When you build a Navy ship, you have to focus on power and speed. The Coast Guard’s now-under-construction and rapidly emerging Offshore Patrol Cutter ship (OPC) will hit the ocean next year, bringing new strategic and … Northrop Grumman and ESG drew from state of the market technologies to build this ship. April 30, 2020, by navaltoday. “The offshore patrol cutter will be the backbone of Coast Guard offshore presence and the manifestation of our at-sea authorities,” said Zukunft. Eastern Shipbuilding Group is constructing Heritage-class offshore patrol cutters (OPCs) for the US Coast Guard (USCG). According to information published by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) on January 21, 2021, the USCGC (United States Coast Guard Cutter) Charles Moulthrope (WPC 1141), Patrol Forces Southwest Asia's first Sentinel-class cutter, was commissioned into service at Coast Guard Base Portsmouth, Thursday, January 21, 2021. However, the current fleet of twenty-nine legacy medium endurance cutters (which used to be thirty-three not too many years ago) have been in service for decades and are reaching obsolescence and are badly in need of replacement. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. The Coast Guard commissioned the 41st fast response cutter (FRC), Charles Moulthrope, in Portsmouth, Virginia, Jan. 21. As part of its contribution, Northrop Grumman also provides the ship’s Computing Network System, Machinery Control System and Propulsion Control System along with the monitors and controls for the ship’s propulsion power plant. The advanced networking and surveillance technology is of critical importance to the Coast Guard’s OPC vision, in part because the service is looking to acquire twenty-five new ships to replace an existing fleet of now less than thirty medium-endurance Hamilton cutters. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. 2012. You don’t have a supply ship so you must have room on board for fuel, food and supplies, and you need to conserve that fuel,” Papp said. Construction began in fiscal year 2018. Kris Osborn is the defense editor for the National Interest. We are responsible for the majority of the C4ISR capabilities on the OPC; including the command and control system, communications, navigation through the integrated bridge system, the shipboard computer network system, navigation and combat system data distribution system, surface search radars, primary and secondary gyrocompasses, as well as other navigational sensors. Last week, the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter arrested a fugitive murder suspect in an interdiction and boarding operation off the coast of Puerto Rico. January 30, 2019, by navaltoday. The Coast Guard’s proposed FY2021 budget requests a total of $597 million in procurement funding for the NSC, OPC, and FRC programs. At 360 feet, the ESG OPC is much larger than the 210-foot and 270-foot medium endurance cutters they are replacing and also engineered with an entirely new sphere of command and control systems, sensor technologies and networking applications. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. “It is essential to stopping smugglers at sea, for interdicting undocumented migrants, rescuing mariners, enforcing fisheries laws, responding to disasters, and protecting our ports.” In September 2016, Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Florida, was awarded a $110.3 million contract to build the first Offshore Patrol Cutter with an option to purchase eight additional cutters. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. The Coast Guard selected Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. (ESG) to build the ship, by choosing them to continue into phase 2 of the OPC development, which includes detail design and construction. 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