“When we gain information from a boarding, hopefully we can use the intelligence to help find that next boarding on the water,” Brown said. “We target the detection, the monitoring of drug trafficking vessels, with Joint Interagency Task Force [JIATF] South that operates out of Key West. They develop the intelligence, and they fly the airplanes that allow the cutters and embarked helicopters to locate and stop these drug trafficking vessels. Then we work with DOJ [Department of Justice] to bring those suspects to the U.S. for prosecution, along with the evidence of that crime, including not only the drugs that were found on board, but often communications equipment and code sheets and names and phone numbers that, when investigated, may lead to more information about other cases. That information then feeds into the targeting process that I described at the beginning that JIATF uses. If you draw out those processes – investigation, detection, monitoring, interdiction, prosecution, and investigation – that completes what we call the ‘cycle of success.’”

Capable cutters

The “Western Hemisphere Strategy” calls for a “Maritime Trident of Forces,” which includes “maritime patrol forces, shore-based forces, and deployable specialized forces.” These service members are on standby, ready to deploy on a moment’s notice. New platforms – boats, aircraft, and the new cutter fleet – are crucial to success, especially in conducting operations far from home waters.

The 210s were commissioned more than 50 years ago. The oldest of the 270s joined the fleet starting in 1983. So the cost of maintaining and sustaining these ships has become prohibitive.

“To have the offshore high seas capability, you need the hardware to do it,” Frankford said.

That requires capable cutters. And a key to executing its strategy is the Coast Guard’s new offshore patrol cutter (OPC), which will supplant the service’s aging fleet of 210-foot Reliance-class and 270-foot Famous-class medium endurance cutters (WMECs).

In September 2016, the Coast Guard selected Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Florida, to design the OPC and build the first ship, with an option for eight more, beating out Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana, and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, for the $110.3 million contract. The first OPC is expected to be delivered in FY 2021.

“We currently have 14 210s and 13 270s,” said Cmdr. Phil Crigler, deputy chief for Cutter Forces.

“Today, the 210-foot and 270-foot MEC classes do not operate in the Bering Sea or the Pacific transit zone or deep in the Pacific EEZ because they do not possess the endurance or ability to launch and recover helos or cutterboats in conditions routinely experienced in those operating environments,” said Crigler. “The OPC will work with the service’s fast response cutters [FRCs] to provide an offshore presence in the drug transit zone in the Caribbean. Unlike the smaller FRC, the OPC has a flight deck and can carry a helicopter, and has longer endurance and more robust communications. In fact, the OPC has a similar capability to the national security cutter [NSC], to include the same 57 mm gun.”

According to Crigler, the OPC will provide a capability improvement over the FRCs and WMECs with improved seakeeping, which is important for long missions. “With a range of 8,500 miles, it can provide a very effective presence where we need it.”

The OPC will have aviation capabilities that are interoperable with the rest of the Coast Guard’s modernized fleet. It will carry over-the-horizon (OTH) capable boats; in fact, the OPC will carry two or more OTH cutter boats, whereas the WMECs have only one. Although the NSC can launch and recover boats using a stern ramp, the OPC will utilize a side-mounted davit system. The OPC will have C4ISR sensors to enhance surveillance, detection, classification, identification, and prosecution performance.

Like the NSC, the offshore patrol cutter will have a classified local area network to be able to handle classified material and sensitive intelligence information.