U.S. Coast Guard Exercises Contract Option For Four More FRCs

U.S. Coast Guard Commissions 3 Fast Response Cutters In Guam
Fast Response Cutter Frederick Hatch. U.S. Coast Guard picture.
The Coast Guard exercised a contract option Aug. 4 for production of four more Sentinel-class fast response cutters (FRCs) and associated deliverables worth about $212.9 million with Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana.
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U.S. Coast Guard press release

This option brings the total number of FRCs under contract with Bollinger to 64 and the total value of the Phase 2 contract to approximately $1.7 billion. The FRCs built under this option will be delivered between October 2024 and June 2025.

To date, there are 43 FRCs in operational service.

FRCs have a maximum speed of over 28 knots, a range of 2,500 nautical miles and an endurance of five days. The ships are designed for multiple missions, including drug and migrant interdiction; ports, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense. They feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment; over-the-horizon cutter boat deployment to reach vessels of interest; and improved habitability and seakeeping.

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About Sentinel-class FRC

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Edgar Culbertson man the rails during the commissioning ceremony at Sector Field Office Galveston, Texas, June 11, 2020. The ship is the second sentinel-class fast response cutter stationed in Galveston. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Officer Trainee Marissa Skidmore.

The FRC are built by the Louisiana-based firm Bollinger Shipyards, using a design from the Netherlands-based Damen Group, with the Sentinel design based on the company’s Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel.

USCG Sentinel-class FRC features

  • Enhanced response time with a minimum top speed of 28 knots
  • Ability to conduct missions on moderate seas up to transit speed for eight hours in all directions
  • Ability to survive on very rough seas up to loiter speed for eight hours in all directions
  • Armed with a stabilized 25-mm machine gun mount and four crew-served .50-caliber machine guns
  • Fully interoperable command and control systems with Coast Guard existing and future assets and with the departments of Homeland Security and Defense

USCG Sentinel-class FRC characteristics

  • Length: 154 feet
  • Beam: 25 feet
  • Draft: 9 feet 6 inches
  • Displacement: 353 long tons
  • Maximum Speed: 28+ knots
  • Range: 2,500 nautical miles
  • Endurance: Five days
  • Crew: 24

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