Coast Guard Cutter Munro from Kodiak, Alaska, conducts helicopter in-flight refueling while on patrol in the Bering Sea, Feb. 15, 2016. The OPC will provide a capability bridge between the national security cutter, which patrols the open ocean, and the fast response cutter, which serves closer to shore. USCG says the ships will replace the service’s 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters which are expensive to maintain and operate.
By: FEDweek StaffThe Coast Guard has authorized Austal USA to move forward with the next step in the detail design of the offshore patrol cutter (OPC). The decision came after a company that had vied unsuccessfully for the contract withdrew a complaint it had filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The initial value of the contract was placed at $208.26 million for five such ships, with options for Austal to produce a total of as many as 11. The full value of the contract could reach $3.33 billion.
For this next step – dubbed Stage 2 – the Coast Guard is requiring Austal to produce details and designs of hull and propulsion systems that would match earlier OPCs. At the same time, the new iterations would offer flexibility and adaptability that would prove beneficial to lifecycle costs, production, operational efficiency and performance, the service stated in a press release.
Offshore patrol cutters perform a variety of missions for the Department of Homeland Security, to include: anti-smuggling; interdiction of undocumented non-citizens; search and rescue, fisheries enforcement; disaster response; and port security.
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