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The United States Coast Guard uses cutters and small boats on the water, and fixed- and rotary wing (helicopters) aircraft in the air. They also use a variety of firearms, including handguns, rifles and machine guns.

Contents

Cutters

Aircraft

Boats

Small arms

Communications

See also

Notes

Cutters

Originally, the Coast Guard used the term ''cutter'' in its traditional sense, as a type of small sailing ship. Today it officially uses the term for any vessel which has a permanently assigned crew and accommodations for the extended support of that crew, although informally this is held to mean any vessel of 65 foot or more in length.USCG Regulations. Chapter 10. Accessed December 11, 2006.
Larger cutters (over 180 feet (55 m) in length) are controlled by Area Commands (Atlantic Area or Pacific Area). Smaller cutters come under control of District Commands. Cutters usually carry a motor surf boat and/or a rigid-hulled inflatable boat. ''Polar''-class icebreakers (WAGB) carry an Arctic Survey Boat (ASB) and Landing Craft. The ''CGC Ahi'' is the last 87-foot cutter to be added to the Coast Guard fleet.
Currently, the Coast Guard is leasing five PC-179 coastal patrol ships from the U.S. Navy; two (including ''USCGC Monsoon'') operate from San Diego and three from Pascagoula, Mississippi. These vessels are used primarily for counterdrug patrols. ^[1]
Any Coast Guard crew with officers or petty officers assigned has law-enforcement authority (14 USC Sec. 89) and can conduct armed boardings.

★ 'For a complete list of Cutters see: United States Coast Guard Cutter and List of United States Coast Guard cutters'

★ ''Polar''-class icebreaker (WAGB): There are three WAGB's, all home ported in Seattle, Washington. Two are 399-foot icebreakers (the ''Polar Sea'' and the ''Polar Star''), and one a newer 420-foot icebreaker, the ''Healy''.

★ High Endurance Cutter (WHEC): These are 378 feet along the waterline. There are 12 WHECs (homeports are: Charleston, South Carolina (2); Seattle, Washington (2); Alameda, California (4); San Diego, California (2); and Honolulu, Hawaii (2).)

★ USCGC ''Mackinaw'' (WLBB-30): The ''Mackinaw'' is a 240 foot heavy icebreaker built for operations on the North American Great Lakes and home ported at Cheboygan, Michigan.

★ USCGC ''Eagle'' (WIX-327): The ''Eagle'' is home ported at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. It is used for training voyages for Coast Guard Academy cadets and Coast Guard officer candidates. The USCGC ''Eagle'' was built in Germany as the ''Horst Wessel'', and was seized by the United States as a prize of war in 1945.

★ Medium Endurance Cutter (WMEC): These are mostly 210-foot and 270-foot cutters, although three "mature" class cutters fall into the WMEC category (the ''Alex Haley'', the ''Acushnet'', and the ''Storis''—all stationed in Alaska).

★ Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB): There are 16 ''Juniper''-class buoy tenders being commissioned.

★ 110' Island Class Cutter (WPB): There are currently 40 110' patrol boats in active duty service in the U.S. Coast Guard. USCGC Drummond (WPB-1323) is one of the service's most active 110' patrol boats based out of Key West, Florida. Eight of these cutters were planned to be extended to 123 feet. The order was placed with the Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana, but the hulls were then found to be unseaworthy and required scrapping. The Coast Guard is seeking a $50 million refund from Bollinger Shipyards. ^[2]

Aircraft

The Coast Guard owns about 210 aircraft. Fixed-wing aircraft, such as (HC-130 Hercules turboprops and HU-25 Guardian jets) operate from Air Stations on long-duration missions. Helicopters (HH-65 Dolphin, HH-60 Jayhawk, and MH-68 Stingray) operate from Air Stations, Air Facilities, and flight-deck equipped cutters, and can rescue people or intercept smuggling vessels.
The Coast Guard flies five aircraft types:

★ HC-130 Hercules

★ HU-25 Guardian ^[3]

★ HH-60 Jayhawk ^[4]

★ HH-65 Dolphin

★ MH-68 Stingray, flown by the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) based in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Coast Guard is planning to purchase 36 CASA CN-235 from Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) for medium range search. As of February 2 2006, the first of the aircraft are under construction for delivery in early 2007. ^[5]
The Coast Guard is also purchasing Bell Eagle Eye UAVs as part of the Deepwater program. ^[6]
In addition to regular Coast Guard aircraft, privately-owned general aviation aircraft are used by Coast Guard Auxiliarists for patrols and search-and-rescue missions.

Boats

The Coast Guard operates about 1,400 boats, defined as any vessel not designated as a cutter (traditionally less than 65 feet (20 meters) in length), which generally operate near shore and on inland waterways. The most common is 41 feet (12.5 meters) long, of which the Guard has more than 200; the shortest is 12 feet (4 meters).
The Coast Guard boat fleet includes:

★ Arctic Survey Boat (ASB)

★ Motor Life Boat (MLB)

★ Utility Boat (UTB)

★ Deployable Pursuit Boat (DPB)

★ Aids to Navigation Boats (TANB/BUSL/ANB/ANB)

★ Transportable Port Security Boat (TPSB): 25-foot (7.6-meter) boat, based on the commercial version of the 25-foot center-console Boston Whaler, suitable for work in inland waters, easily transportable by trailer. These are primarily used by Port Security Units for force protection in naval support areas abroad, as well as, ports of embarkation/debarkation in expeditionary areas. Most recently these boats and units were deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The durability, versatility, and mobility of these boats make them ideal for this type of operation.
:The Coast Guard planned to reduce the inventory of Boston Whalers because of the lack of interoperable spare parts. On Friday, July 13th, the General Services Administration approved the transfer of 10 Coast Guard boats to the Army in Iraq. The boats, 24' and 27' Boston Whalers with trailers, had an original acquisition cost of more than $800,000. The Army is looking for approximately 55 Riverine or Patrol style boats to conduct water interdiction, river denial and island clearance missions, troop transport and insertion on a regular basis; the Coast Guard is providing the Army with the Boston Whalers and one Ambar boat, a patrol type vessel. ^[7]

★ Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHI): a rigid-hulled inflatable boat, powered by a gasoline outboard motor or an inboard/outboard diesel engine. The RHI can be easily deployed from a cutter with a four-point bridle for davit lifting and lowering. The RHI's portability and ruggedness allow it to be used on many kinds of missions.

★ USCG Short Range Prosecutor (SRP): A 7-meter (23-foot) launch that can be launched from a rear launching ramp, at speed.

★ USCG Long Range Interceptor (LRI): An 11-meter (36-foot) high-speed launch that can be launched from the rear ramps of the larger Deepwater cutters.

★ USCG Defender: A 25-foot (7.6 meter) high speed boat, for a variety of missions, including search and rescue, port security and constabulary duties. First introduced in 2003, the plan is to acquire 700 Defender class boats to replace nonstandard boats and platforms at Coast Guard stations.
On June 23, 2006 the Commandant of the Coast Guard announced ^[8] that the Coast Guard has signed a multi-year contract for 180 "Response Boat Medium" boats that will be delivered starting in 2008 to replace the UTB boats. These aluminum boats will be about 45 feet (13.7 meters) in length, have twin diesel engines (total 1650 HP), be self-righting, have four crew, six passenger capacity, be equipable with two .50 caliber machine guns, have an excellent fendering system, have a top speed of 42 knots, and be capable of towing a 100 ton vessel in eight foot seas.

Small arms

From 1986 until 2006, Coast Guardsmen on patrol were armed with Beretta M9 9 mm pistols. The Coast Guard has transitioned to the .40 S&W caliber SIG-Sauer P229R DAK, completing the changeover as of April 2006. Other small arms include the M16A2 rifle and M4 Carbine variant, as well as the Remington 870 police magnum riot shotgun, from which the Coast Guard employs both lethal and non-lethal rounds. The Coast Guard recently replaced the M60 machine gun with the FN M240 machine gun, which is typically mounted on vessels, aircraft, or used in shoreside machine-gun emplacements. Many Coast Guard units are also equipped with the .50 caliber M2 machine gun. Weapons above .50 caliber are considered "weapons systems", rather than "small arms". ^[9]

Communications

Coast Guard radio stations cover a wide geographical area using both very high frequency, high frequency, and medium frequency radios. There are eight major radio stations covering long-range transmissions and an extensive network of VHF radio stations along the nation's coastline and inland rivers.
The current communication system is being replaced by Rescue 21. Rescue 21 is an advanced maritime command, control, and communications (C3) system.
The OMEGA navigation system and the LORAN-C transmitters outside the USA were run until 1994 also by the United States Coast Guard.

See also

★ DEEPWATER Project

★ Integrated Deepwater System Program

★ Rescue 21

Notes

1. PA3 Brian Leshak, "CG Leases Navy Ships, Fights Drug War". ''Coast Guard Magazine'' 2/2006, pp. 32–33).
2. The Mississippi Press. ‘’Our Opinion: Shipbuilding issues should be solved. ‘’ July 23, 2007. http://www.gulflive.com/opinion/mississippipress/index.ssf?/base/opinion/118518572215780.xml, accessed on 07-23-2007.
3. The HU-25 at GlobalSecurity.com
4. The HH-60 at GlobalSecurity.com
5. CASA CN 235-300M on the USCG official Web site
6. Bell Eagle Eye HV-911 on the USCG official Web site
7. U.S. General Service Administration. "Boats Transferred to Iraq." http://contacts.gsa.gov/graphics/insite/fas/GSS_Newsletter_Aug_07_Final_8_27_07.doc, accessed September 4, 2007
8. 2006 OPM Federal Human Capital Survey (All Hands Email)
9. PA2 John Edwards and PA1 Kimberly Smith, PADET Atlantic City. "Learning to Shoot All Over Again". ''Coast Guard Magazine'', Issue 2, 2006, pp. 4–19.