Australia: HII to Present Patrol Frigate Derivative of National Security Cutter at Pacific 2012 Trade Show

Huntington Ingalls Industries will present a new patrol frigate derivative of the company’s proven U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter at this week’s Pacific 2012 International Maritime and Naval Exposition. The patrol frigate could be built at the company’s Ingalls Shipbuilding facility in Mississippi.

“The National Security Cutter is a ship with tremendous capability and a demonstrated operational performance at sea,” said Mike Duthu, Ingalls Shipbuilding’s Coast Guard program manager. “There is a large market for patrol frigates internationally. By combining a stable design baseline with an experienced workforce and active construction line, we have developed a product that could meet the mission needs of several foreign navies.”

Ingalls Shipbuilding has delivered three National Security Cutters to the Coast Guard, and two more ships are currently under construction. The Coast Guard plans to purchase a total of at least eight NSCs.

There are two Patrol Frigate variants: Patrol Frigate 4501 and Patrol Frigate 4921.

Patrol Frigate 4501 is closely aligned with the basic National Security Cutter hull with limited design changes. The ships are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,600 tons with a full load. The ship has a 12,000-nautical mile range and can operate in speeds up through 28-plus knots. They have an endurance of 60 days and accommodations for 148. The ship includes an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of aircraft, with twin hangars for storage of one H-60 class helicopter and two rotary-wing unmanned aircraft. The ships are equipped with various sensors and surveillance systems as well as a 57-mm gun, a 20-mm close-in weapon system and six 50-caliber machine guns.

Patrol Frigate 4921 has additional mission capabilities for anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, anti-surface and mine-warfare provided by a 76-mm gun, a 12-cell vertical launch system, an anti-ship missile launcher and torpedo launcher, sonar dome and remote-controlled and manned 50-caliber machine guns.

Both frigates retain the NSC’s propulsion system of one LM2500 gas turbine and two MTU20V 1163 diesels in combined diesel and gas configuration. All variants incorporate the current quality-of-life features on the NSC, including modern berthing compartments, entertainment facilities and workout facilities.

HII representatives Capt. Rocco Tomanelli (U.S. Navy, Ret.) and Capt. Patrick Stadt (U.S. Coast Guard, Ret.), who was the first commanding officer on the National Security Cutter Bertholf, will display NSC and patrol frigate models throughout the show.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Employing nearly 38,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, its primary business divisions are Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding.

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Naval Today Staff , January 31, 2012