Blast from the past: the National Patrol Frigate
February 24th, 2010 | Coast Guard Congress leadership Ships Washington | Posted by Phil Ewing
An oldie, but a goodie: Northrop Grumman's trade-show handout about the National Patrol Frigate, circa 2008 // Philip Ewing / Staff
Remember the wild, crazy year called 2008? The presidential election was going full swing … Kanye West asked a befuddled America how it could be so heartless … and in certain elite circles, the big debate was littoral combat ship v. national security cutter. Back in those golden, by-gone days, the hip crowd was saying, “hey, why don’t the Coast Guard and the Navy both buy LCSes or NSCs, or both services get a couple of each, and realize increased savings and commonality?”
Shipbuilder Northrop Grumman even issued rack-display cards for that year’s trade shows depicting its cutter with a haze-gray paint scheme.
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead took pains to explain why they didn’t like that idea: The Coast Guard’s vessel is designed for many days’ endurance at a moderate speed, hunting for smugglers in the Eastern Pacific. The Navy’s ship is a full-bore speed demon, designed to rip up the waves at 45 knots — with constant support from an oiler — and operate in a strike group with other warships. (Funny: LCS did chase some smugglers this week, though.)
After awhile, people forgot about all this. Or did they? At a hearing on Capitol Hill today, House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D.-Mo. brought the “National Patrol Frigate” concept roaring back to life:
From the transcript:
SKELTON: … [L]et me ask Admiral Roughead — I was at a shipbuilding port not too long ago. And I saw a ship being built for the United States Coast Guard. I think it’s called the National Security Cutter. And I was just wondering why that particular ship that we don’t have to redesign or reconfigure won’t do for the Navy? I’ve seen no request for anything like it or for that particular ship itself.
ROUGHEAD: Yes, sir. And we have looked at a variety of options for the type of capabilities we need to meet our — the needs of the maritime strategy. And the Coast Guard and the National Security Cutter, that ship is optimized for their missions. And as we look at what we have to do, and as a Navy that has to have versatility and agility built into our ships.
Because I think it’s important that our ships be able to provide for a range of missions, and not simply be focused on one. I would say maybe perhaps the exception to that is the ballistic missile submarine because of what its mission is.
But we have to provide for a range of capabilities. For us, speed becomes important. And that led us to the LCS. I, since becoming CNO, I’ve looked at the speed requirements again, and I have reassured myself that we’re in the right place. But what we’re building now meets the requirements that we have to deliver the type of navy the nation needs to be able to operate in the places where we expect to have to operate in the future.
SKELTON: May I ask, Admiral, for the record, ask some bright shipbuilder over the Navy Systems Command to give us the pros and cons of that particular ship, including the cost? Would you do that for our record?
ROUGHEAD: Yes, sir, I will.
SKELTON: No rush, two or three weeks, whatever.
ROUGHEAD: Yes, sir, I’ll do that.
SKELTON: And it’s easy to do, but that would — I really had to scratch my head when I saw that ship. You know, why can’t we — we have the plans and we wouldn’t have to start from scratch there.
ROUGHEAD: Yes, sir, I’ll do that.
What do you think? Could the Navy use a couple “national patrol frigates” in addition to its LCS fleet?
Comments
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Fionn Says:
February 24th, 2010 at 7:05 pmSomething like the old ‘Sea Wasp’ concept might be a better idea.
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Total Says:
February 24th, 2010 at 7:31 pmUh, cause the NSC hasn’t had its own building issues?
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Sea Links « New Wars Says:
February 26th, 2010 at 6:54 am[...] Blast from the past: the National Patrol Frigate. [...]
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george shaw Says:
February 26th, 2010 at 5:52 pmone is for war
&
one is for policing -
The Scoop Deck – What could the tanker deal mean for the Navy? Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 9:39 am[...] a Northrop loss give its surrogates in Congress an incentive to push its formerly jettisoned National Patrol Frigate as a supplement or alternative to [...]
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The Scoop Deck – The fate of LCS, cont’d. Says:
October 14th, 2010 at 9:47 am[...] just around the corner. (Just. Around. The. Corner.) It could, however, give proponents of the National Patrol Frigate just the chance they’ve been waiting for, even if Galrahn doesn’t think the Navy will [...]