The US Coast Guard has exercised a contract option with Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana, to fund initial construction on 10 additional Sentinel-class fast response cutters (FRCs).
The coast guard said the US$507 million option will support ongoing efforts to modernise the fleet and expand the coast guard’s global maritime mission.
The action made possible by the passage of Public Law 119-21, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, increases the total number of FRCs ordered under the current agreement from 67 to 77.
The Sentinel-class FRCs are designed for multiple missions including drug and migrant interdiction, ports, waterways and coastal security, fishery patrols, and search and rescue.
Upon completion, each cutter will have a length of 154 feet (46.9 metres), a flank speed of 28 knots, a C4ISR suite, and a stern launch and recovery ramp for a 26-foot (7.92-metre), over-the-horizon interceptor cutter boat. Armament will include a 25mm autocannon and four 12.7mm machine guns.