Thread: USN's new 78-foot MK VI PB - Coastal Riverine Force, Expeditionary Combat Command

Five (or maybe six) new PBs for the littorals...

SAFE Boats International awarded US Navy MK VI Patrol Boat Contract



May 24, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Jason Solomon
Sales & Marketing Coordinator
SAFE Boats International
360.674.7161 x1223

SAFE Boats International awarded US Navy MK VI Patrol Boat Contract

Bremerton, WA (May 14, 2012): SAFE Boats International (SBI) has been awarded a contract to provide the United States Navy five (5) MK VI Patrol Boats (MK VI PB). The MK VI PB is the Navy’s next generation Patrol Boat and will become a part of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command’s (NECC) fleet of combatant craft. NECC will utilize the MK VI PB to provide operational commanders a capability to persistently patrol shallow littoral areas beyond sheltered harbors and bays, and into less sheltered open water out to the Departure Sea Area (DSA) for the purpose of force protection of friendly and coalition forces and critical infrastructure.

The 78-foot MK VI PB is a variant of SBI’s versatile 780 Archangel class patrol boat and has a hull optimized for performance, fuel economy, and firepower. Systems are designed to reduce Total Ownership Cost (TOC), minimize manpower and improve reliability and maintainability. Powered by twin diesel engines and waterjets, the MK VI PB is capable of speeds in excess 30 knots at full load and can be armed with a variety of crew served and remotely operated weapons systems up to 25mm. She has a range in excess of 600 nautical miles and the ability to burn both marine grade diesel fuel and JP-5. Berthing accommodations, galley and head/shower facilities allow for extended missions.

The MK VI PB is configured with both a pilothouse and a main deck cabin. The pilothouse is configured with shock mitigating seating with integrated work stations for the crew. The work stations are integrated into the seats to bring controls and displays into suspension with the operators thus reducing fatigue and preventing injury. The main cabin is reconfigurable to allow for the accommodation of remotely operated vehicles, a temporary medical triage area and/or shock mitigating seating for a boarding team and off-duty crew.

“We are thankful to have the opportunity to manufacture and support a craft which will bring back the venerable and storied ’Patrol Boat’ class to the US Navy” said Scott Peterson, CEO, SAFE Boats International. “We are intimately aware of the history of the ’PB’ and are excited to be a part of the next chapter in the story of this versatile class of US Navy craft.”
SBI will be producing the MKVI in its new Large Craft Production Facility (LCPF) located in the Port of Tacoma, Washington. Originally developed to build ships for the US Navy during WWII, the size and configuration of the facility will allow for up to six (6) MKVI PB size craft to be under construction simultaneously. Located on the water, the LCPF provides SBI an ideal location to produce and support large craft.

SAFE Boats International offers a wide range of craft from 18- 80 feet configurable to a wide variety of pleasure, commercial, law enforcement and military requirements together with the training and service to support them. For more information about the Archangel and the entire SAFE Boats product line please visit: SAFE Boats International

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$30M for 5 new patrol boats

Coastal Riverine Force Expanding Its Reach Following June 1 Merger

Posted on InsideDefense.com: June 8, 2012

The newly-established Coastal Riverine Force in the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command is seeking to expand its reach, and recently bought five new Mk VI Patrol Boats to extend its range and mission duration.

Coastal Riverine Force -- the result of a June 1 merger between the Riverine and the Maritime Expeditionary Security forces -- sought a boat that would let the force push out from shore even farther and would be the biggest of the force's continuum of craft, Capt. James Hamblet, commodore of Coastal Riverine Group 2 in Portsmouth, VA, told Inside the Navy during a June 5 interview. The Navy issued a $30.5-million contract to Safe Boats International of Bremerton, WA, on May 14 for five boats, with a $6-million option for a sixth, Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Lt. Kurt Larson told ITN on May 29.

"If you look at what we as a force are supposed to do -- we establish and maintain local control of coastal and inland waters -- to do that you need a layered approach with these different craft," Hamblet said. "And Mk VI helps us push that out with a range of roughly 650 miles."

The SeaArc, which Hamblet said has been the workhorse of the Maritime Expeditionary Security Force, is only 34 feet in length. The new Mk VI will be 85 feet long and has the ability to surpass 40 knots, which Hamblet said was an impressive combination. The boats will be able to operate for 24 hours and have room for 10 people -- two alternating crews of five -- plus eight additional personnel if needed for a mission, Hamblet said.

"I think the Mk VI is a pretty cost-effective means of having a naval presence no matter where you choose that to be, in the littorals, anywhere in the world," he said, noting that the ship's four-foot draft will make it a helpful asset "wherever we choose to operate." He added that the boats were not replacing any other platform but rather adding to the group's capabilities -- such as protecting high-value assets as far as 50 miles out to sea, a reach the group's existing platforms don't have.
The first boat should be delivered in about February 2014, Hamblet said. The five or six boats will be split between Norfolk, VA, and San Diego, CA, he said, though the Navy is still determining where it might first deploy the boats.

By the time the patrol boats deliver, the Coastal Riverine Force should be fully integrated. A June 1 ceremony merged the capabilities and commands at a group level, Hamblet said. The first combined squadron -- which will be divided into three maritime expeditionary security companies and one riverine company -- will form in August, with two more, along with four reserve squadrons that will not have riverine companies, forming in the following months.

"Across the entire squadron, across all four companies, we're raising the combat readiness, combat effectiveness, of the force so that now all four companies will really not only have a force protection capability but will have an offensive capability as well," Hamblet said of the upcoming changes to his new unit.

The first post-merger squadron will deploy in the May 2013 timeframe, he added.
Hamblet said riverine and coastal forces had already been satisfying force protection requirements in the 5th Fleet area of operation and that the newly merged units would continue to do so. He said they would also continue to work with foreign navies, which is already being done, and that the Mk VI Patrol Boat was a good platform to use for this type of security assistance mission.

"Really, a lot of the navies in the world have craft that are very similar in size to the ones we have, so we really are the perfect force to engage with a lot of navies across the world for security assistance," he said.

The patrol boats will include two Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm machine gun systems, two stabilized small arms mounts and six crew-served weapons mounts for 50-caliber machine guns, Larson and Hamblet said. Those capabilities will enable the boats to perform maritime intercept and visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operations, support theater security cooperation and security force assistance operations and more, Larson told ITN, calling it "the Navy's first true patrol boat introduced since the mid 1980s." -- Megan Eckstein