Offshore Patrol Cutter
Characteristics:
Notional
Number Planned: 25
Length: 357ft.
Propulsion: Diesel engines
Max Sustained Speed: 25kts
Endurance: 45d
Range: 7,500nm
Crew: 16/75
Armament: 57mm medium caliber gun; M2 .50 cal. heavy machine gun
Stern Launch: one Short Range Prosecutor and one Long Range Interceptor
Aviation Facilities: One MH-65C and two vertical launch unmanned aerial
vehicles, or other combinations
The OPC will complement the Coast Guard’s legacy fleet and next-generation cutters to extend operational capabilities across the mission spectrum.
Features
- OPC will feature increased range and endurance (60–90 day patrol cycles); more powerful weapons; larger flight decks; chem-bio & radiological environmental hazard detection and defense; and improved Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment. The cutters will be equipped with air and surface search radars and target classification sensors. The cutters’ mission influence will be extended by aircraft and a new generation of cutter boats.
- The WMSM cutters will have stern ramp to accommodate small boat launch and recovery in higher sea states than conventional davit systems aboard legacy cutters. The new generation of cutter boats, including the Long Range Interceptor and Short Range Prosecutor, improve a cutter crew’s over-the-horizon and local force protection capabilities.
Last Modified 10/19/2008