Eastern passes another Offshore Patrol Cutter program milestone

Offshore Patrol Cutter

JULY 12 2018 — Panama City, FL, based Eastern Shipbuilding Group and the U.S. Coast Guard successfully conducted the Final Critical Design Review (FCDR) for the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) Program on June 29.

The FCDR accomplishment followed a week of discussions, demonstrations, and design presentations by ESG’s design team to the USCG and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The purpose of the FCDR is to verify that the OPC detail design is integrated and internally consistent with the USCG requirements and points towards the exercise of the contract option for construction of the first hull USCGC Argus.

“This major milestone for the OPC program was achieved on time and our design was found to be ready for the next milestone, Production Readiness Review (PRR) on July 31, 2018,” said ESG’s President Mr. Joey D’Isernia. “We will continue to work closely with the Coast Guard to make the design more affordable to build and develop refinements to improve mission effectiveness.”

On September 7, 2017 the U.S. Coast Guard exercised ESG’s contract option for Long Lead Time Material (LLTM) for the first Offshore Patrol Cutter, USCGC Argus.

Construction of the lead vessel is anticipated to start after the contract option is exercised with delivery in 2021.

The contract includes options for production of up to nine vessels and has a potential total value of $2.38 billion dollars.

The Coast Guard plans to acquire a total of twenty-five (25) Offshore Patrol Cutters.

The OPC will replace the Medium Endurance Cutters currently in service andwill provide a capability bridge between the National Security Cutter, which patrols the open ocean in the most demanding maritime environments, and the Fast Response Cutter, which serves closer to shore. The OPC design includes the capability of carrying an MH-60R or MH-65 Helicopter and three operational Over-The-Horizon (OTH) small boats. The vessel is also equipped with a highly sophisticated combat system and C4ISR (command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) suite that will enhance capabilities to execute the service’s missions.