Rear Admiral Paul Schlise, Director, Surface Warfare (N96), stated at the Surface Navy Association 2021’s Virtual Symposium in in mid-January that the Navy’s aging patrol coastal (PC) boats will not have a replacement for their direct capabilities, and that there are no plans to replace them with a similar small U.S. Navy ship type of that size.
A Cyclone-class PC boat armed with a forward-stabilized Mk 38 Mod 2 25-mm autocannon at the bow and a stabilized 25-mm with 40-mm MK19 Mk 96 aft, and up to five heavy or medium machine gun and/or Mk19 40-mm grenade launchers on pintle mounts, and Griffin small antitank guided missiles. Max speed if 35 knots and range is 2,500 nautical miles. (U.S. Navy)
“The Cyclone-class has been a terrific class. Punches way above its weight class—those ships have been fantastic,” said Rear Admiral Schlise. But he also mentioned that the PCs are beyond their service life and that they have been upgraded many times; they are just at the end of their line. The roles and missions of the PCs are going to be replaced by littoral combat ships (LCSs, to which U.S. Marine Corps General Tracy King nodded in agreement as he sat next to the rear admiral) in the Seventh and Fifth Fleets (the Seventh Fleet is part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the Fifth Fleet is responsible for the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean).
But what does this mean for the U.S. Coast Guard, a service that is not really geared towards high-end combat? The Coast Guard’s Washington, D.C., headquarters replied via emailed questions, “The Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) is a key component of the Coast Guard’s offshore fleet, which is capable of deploying independently to conduct missions that include port, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense. The FRCs are replacing the legacy Island-class 110-foot patrol boats (WPBs), including in Manama, Bahrain at Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), where the Coast Guard operates six 110-foot WPBs in support of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The FRC delivers vital capability to the Coast Guard, helping to meet the service’s needs in the coastal zone and adjacent waters, both domestically and overseas.
“The Coast Guard has a long and rich history of conducting operations around the world, and international demand for increased Coast Guard capability and presence has never been greater. The Coast Guard’s diverse set of statutory missions provides the Service with unique authorities, capabilities, and partnerships that support national security and foreign policy objectives around the globe.”
The Coast Guard’s official website describes the Persian Gulf area, PATFORSWA as, “USCG Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA) is the Coast Guard’s largest unit outside of the United States. Established in 2002 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, PATFORSWA played a key role in maritime security and maritime infrastructure protection operations. PATFORSWA is currently supporting Operation Enduring Freedom with continued maritime humanitarian presence on the seas, providing U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet with combat-ready assets, utilizing our unique access to foreign territorial seas and ports, formulating strong and independent relationships throughout the Arabian Gulf, and leveraging the full-spectrum, flexible vessel boarding capabilities and maritime country engagements on the shore. PATFORSWA is [currently] comprised of six 110′ cutters, shore side support personnel, Advanced Interdiction Teams (AIT), Maritime Engagement Team (MET), and other deployable specialized forces operating throughout the U.S. Central Command Area of Operation.”
U.S.C.G. FRCs Up-arming for PATFORSWA
Rear Admiral Schlise said that the Coast Guard platforms that work in peacetime and wartime, such as the FRC, are “terrifically capable ships and they’re still being built, and that is another means in which we’re going to replace some of that capability [of the Patrol Coastals]. Those small ships are really good at those missions sets that a smaller platform can do.”
The Coast Guard’s Fast Response Cutters will be upgraded to the Mk 38 MOD 3 and fitted with a 7.62-mm Mark 52 coaxial chaingun. NAVSEA
According to ChuckHillsCGBlog, the Coast Guard intends to pair the Mk 38 25-mm autocannon with a coaxial weapon, but at the time of ChuckHillsCGBlog’s post, the Coast Guard declined to state what that weapon was. The Coast Guard Headquarters spokesperson has since clarified that, “The six PATFORSWA FRCs will be outfitted with the 7.62-mm coaxial gun.”
This might mean that the FRCs will be upgraded with the Mark 38 MOD 3, a stabilized 25-mm autocannon with coaxial 7.62-mm Mark 52 chaingun (the MOD 2 has no coaxial weapon). The MOD 3 makes tactical sense because according to the Coast Guard OUTLOOK, 2020–2021 Edition, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Indo-Pacific region can number anywhere from 200 to a peak of 364 Chinese fishing vessels in an area larger than Texas, and according to an article in Coast Guard Outlook, the fishing vessels were 600 miles off the South American coast. As recently as 22 March 2021, about 220 Chinese fishing boats were moored at Whitsun Reef close to the western Philippines in the South China Sea to the protests of the Filipino government.
The Mk 38 Mod 3 provides 168 25-mm ready rounds on the mount, and the Mark 52, firing at 500–600 rounds per minute, has 750 ready rounds.
The Mark 52 7.62-mm chaingun, coaxial-mated to the stabilized Mk 38 25-mm autocannon, creates the MOD 3 variant of this weapons system. ATK
A FRC upgraded with the Mk 38 MOD 3 would pack a heavier, more versatile punch, with the 25 mm reserved for larger, tougher, more distant threats while the 7.62 mm would be used for policing the vast majority of small civilian unarmored boats in the PATFORSWA and Indo-Pacific region where the Coast Guard deploys the FRCs. (As of summer of 2021, three FRCs will be forward deployed and stationed at Guam.)
The Coast Guard spokesperson also said “The six PATFORSWA FRCs will be outfitted with the Mark 19 [40-mm automatic] grenade launcher.” Since the FRC has four non-stabilized pintle mounts for (.50-cal heavy) machine guns, the Mk 19 would surely go on these mounts to replace one or a few of the machine guns although it is unclear if the Mk 19 would be mated to the Mk 38 MOD 2, thus creating the Mk 96 stabilized weapon system in place of some Mk 38 MOD 3s at the bow of the FRCs and follow-up questions to the Coast Guard Headquarters were not immediately answered.
The 433 40-mm High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) grenade round is deadly—able to spread shrapnel out to a radius of 150 meters from the round’s impact (and kill at 5 meters or incapacitate at 15 meters)—and a 40-mm HEDP round can penetrate up to two inches of homogenous steel plate. 40-mm ammunition cans vary from holding 32 rounds with the PA-120 can to 48 rounds with the M548 ammunition can. The deterrence factor of the MK 19 enhances the power-projection and combat capability of the Coast Guard’s Fast Response Cutters.
In the Coast Guard’s enforcement of IUU, in most cases the FRC’s armament would not be used, but weapons are present “just in case.” These armament upgrades probably are the best, simplest, and easiest way to increase the firepower of the FRCs without resorting to complex modifications of the existing weapon systems and installations into the hulls of the cutters. In addition, a 7.62-mm coaxial chaingun and Mk 19 grenade launcher(s) will provide a single FRC with adequate firepower if it is both outmanned and outnumbered when patrolling in these regional seas.
