announced next spring from the
pool of companies that submitted a
design to the Coast Guard in June.
But simultaneous development
of Northrop Grumman’s PCX-150,
also known as the scalable composite patrol cutter, is being conducted. The documents indicate
that the PCX-150 is the composite
hull version of the FRC design
pitched by Northrop.
The scalable composite patrol
cutter is “one example of where we
have an industry team trying to
make amends,” Jay M. Cohen,
DHS undersecretary for science
and technology, told the House
Appropriations subcommittee on
homeland security in March.
Clarifying that those are “my
words, not theirs,” Cohen cautioned the laughing galley, “I don’t want to affect the stock prices for a prior
performance.”
Cohen was alluding to ICGS’s failed effort under
Deepwater to modernize the Coast Guard’s 49 heavily
used 110-foot Island-class cutters and lengthen them
to 123 feet. Last November, the first eight boats that
had been lengthened were deemed unusable and dry-docked in Key West, Fla.
The project’s failure created a capability gap that
prompted the Coast Guard to move the original delivery date of the FRC from 2020 to 2010.
The program manager for the PCX-150 work is Lt.
Cmdr. Chad Jacoby, former Coast Guard program
manager for 123-foot patrol boat conversion program.
ICGS officials, however, said there is no link between
work on the PCX-150 and the Deepwater program.
Margaret Mitchell-Jones, communications director
for ICGS, said the PCX-150 experimental cutter “is not
under Deepwater and has never been under Deepwater.”
Coast Guard officials also are reticent to declare a
connection between the PCX-150 and the Deepwater
program’s FRC.
Currently, there is no “official” service involvement
in DHS efforts to look at alternative materials for next-generation watercraft, said Coast Guard Capt. Dave
Newton, director of borders and maritime security for
DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate.
“However, I think there is still an interest within
Science and Technology to take a look at some of those
things,” he said, “which will, in turn, potentially go to
inform other acquisition vehicles like Deepwater.”
The DHS documents present a tentative timeline
showing that the agency and the Coast Guard were to
U.S. COAST GUARD
The Fast Response Cutter program was suspended this spring by the Coast
Guard because of technical concerns and weight issues with its composite hull
design. A new proposal for a 150-foot cutter, the PCX-150, also features a composite hull, but touts the use of lightweight composite panels that have already
been produced and approved by the Department of Homeland Security.
have signed a memorandum of agreement to begin
development of the PCX-150 in August. It was
unknown if an agreement was signed at press time.
A contract between Northrop Grumman Ship
Systems and the DHS would come three months after
the agreement — in November, if the timeline holds —
and development and a detailed design of the ship will
take about a year.
The documents propose construction of the demonstrator craft in December 2008, manning with a Coast
Guard crew in October 2009 and delivery of the vessel by
June 10, 2010, the exact date set forth by the Coast Guard
in the now-stalled plan for the composite-hulled FRC.
The construction of the hull for the PCX-150 would be
a unique “vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding”
process, which essentially uses a vacuum bag to press
together composite materials beneath tubes of resin, DHS
documents show. The vacuum bag and ports and resin
tubes affix to a pliable surface and comprise a reusable
mold that can form other hull panels.
Composite materials do not corrode nor do they
need repainting or frequent dry-dock repairs.
Additionally, the use of composites in ship construction takes advantage of the inherent strength-to-weight
ratio, resulting in a lighter ship that requires less
propulsive fuel, according to the documents.
While the primary goal of creating the PCX-150 craft is
to demonstrate the feasibility of lightweight advanced
composites in the production of a 150-foot patrol craft,
other potential goals are to develop a full-size platform to
test lifting-body technologies and an advanced loiter drive.
“The level of interest within the DHS as it pertains to
some of the vessel characteristics is not limited to the
material itself,” Newton said. “It could be hull design. It
