CBO says Navy, CG could swap small-ship ideas - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

CBO says Navy, CG could swap small-ship ideas

The Navy and Coast Guard small surface ship programs are too mature to combine, but each service could benefit from using the other’s designs, according to a report released Friday by the Congressional Budget Office.

The Navy should consider buying a naval version of the Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter for long-range, presence missions. The Northrop Grumman-built ships have a range of 12,000 miles at 8 knots without a reserve.

The Coast Guard could benefit from the Lockheed Martin version of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship in two ways — first, to reduce technical risk on its Offshore Patrol Cutter program; second, to field a ship with a 40-plus-knot top speed that would be valuable for interdiction missions.

The report, “Options for Combining the Navy’s and the Coast Guard’s Small Combatant Programs,” also says Lockheed is developing a longer-range “Coast Guard” version of its LCS that would be able to steam 6,300 miles at 10 knots with a 30 percent reserve. The base Navy LCS has a range of 3,500 knots at about 18 knots.