USCG receives ninth fast response cutter

The US Coast Guard (USCG) has received eighth Sentinel-class patrol boat or fast response cutter (FRC), Kathleen Moore, in Key West, Florida, US.

Scheduled to be commissioned in Key West, Florida in May 2014, the ninth FRC has been designed to support operations in the Seventh Coast Guard District.

The USCG is planning to procure 58 FRCs to replace the service’s 110ft-long Island-class patrol boat fleet, which range in age from 22 to 29 years old.

Armed with remotely operated Bushmaster 25mm chain-fed autocannon, the 46.93m-long cutter boats are powered by two 20-cylinder MTU TIER II diesel engines.

The USCG will deploy the ship to conduct a range of missions, which include port and coastal security, marine safety, marine environmental protection, fishery patrols, drug and illegal migrant interdiction, search and rescue, and national-defence operations.

The boat’s command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment are fully interoperable with the USCG’s existing and future units as well as partners in the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Till date, the USCG has commissioned eight FRCs, featuring state-of-the-market command, control, communications and computer technology interoperable with the Coast Guard’s existing and future assets, as well as Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense assets.

Image: US Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore at sea. Photo: Photo courtesy of Bollinger Shipyards, LLC.