The US Department of Homeland Security has approved full production of the first US Coast Guard polar security cutter (PSC).
The coast guard has also received approval for low-rate initial production of the the waterways commerce cutter (WCC), examples of which will replace the service's ageing fleet of inland tenders.
Approval for full production enables the coast guard and US Navy integrated program office to maintain production momentum, and for the shipbuilder to accelerate hiring to deliver these vessels as quickly as possible to support national security initiatives.
The PSC is the first heavy polar icebreaker to be built in the US in nearly five decades.
The coast guard is the sole federal agency responsible for icebreaking. Accordingly, the service must replace, modernise, and grow its fleet of icebreakers to assure US. access and sovereignty in the polar regions.
The production decision for the WCC program entails the first eight hulls of the river buoy tender (WLR) and inland construction tender (WLIC). These are WCC variants that are being acquired under a single contract, due to significant design and systems commonality.
The coast guard plans to acquire 16 WLRs and 11 WLICs to recapitalise the service’s ageing and increasingly obsolescent inland tender fleet.
Deliveries of both the lead WLR and WLIC are planned to occur in fiscal year 2027. A third WCC variant, the inland buoy tender, will be acquired under a separate contract.