USCG receives seventh NSC
The US Coast Guard received its seventh National Security Cutter (NSC), Kimball, in Pascagoula, Mississippi on 19 September.
Kimball is scheduled for commissioning at its Honolulu homeport in January 2019 and will be the first NSC to be stationed there.
The NSCs feature advanced C4ISR equipment; aviation support facilities; and stern cutter boat launch. The 418ft cutters have an endurance of 60 to 90 days and can serve as operational-level headquarters for complex law-enforcement, defence and national security missions involving coast guard and multiple partner agency participation.
The NSCs will be replacing the 378ft high-endurance cutters of the 1960s-era.
A total of six NSCs are currently in service. Coast Guard cutters Hamilton and James are stationed in Charleston, South Carolina and cutters Bertholf, Waesche, Stratton and Munro are stationed in Alameda, California. Midgett, the eighth cutter, is planned for a 2019 delivery; it will be the second NSC stationed in Honolulu. The ninth cutter, Stone, is slated for delivery in 2021. The coast guard awarded a contract in March 2018 for long lead time materials for the tenth NSC.
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