The U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) has recommended the Coast Guard accept delivery of the first National Security Cutter (NSC-1), following correction or waiver of several deficiencies.
The CGC Bertholf (NSC-1) generated approximately 2,800 trial cards during its five days of acceptance trials, the Coast Guard said.
The ship completed acceptance trials in Pascagoula, Miss., April 11.
“INSURV recognized that, of the total trial card amount, 1,360 were roll-over cards from previous trial events,” the Coast Guard added.
According to the Coast Guard, the INSURV board said, “(Bertholf) was found to be a unique and very capable platform with great potential for future service.”
The the low number of trial cards were a “testament to the superb quality assurance oversight provided during ship construction and testing by the USCG Project Manager’s Representative Office (PMRO) and the Navy Supervisor of Shipbuilding (SOS) Gulf Coast,” according to INSURV.
For a first-in-class ship design, the Navy has traditionally seen between 6,000 and 16,000 trial cards written during sea trials, the Coast Guard said.
Bertholf is the first NSC delivered by the Deepwater Integrated Coast Guard Systems team, made up of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC].
Over the next several weeks, government representatives will work with industry to correct discrepancies and develop plans for resolving outstanding issues.
Throughout April, trial cards will be resolved as quickly as possible, the Coast Guard said.
On April 14, instrumented TEMPEST testing began. TEMPEST deals with the protection of signals. Last year, concerns were raised when a lengthy list of items needing correcting surfaced (Defense Daily, March 5).
The next major step in Bertholf‘s transition to operational status is formal acceptance of the cutter as documented in the Material Inspection and Receiving Report, or DD250. The DD250 formally documents inspection, delivery by the contractor, and receipt by the government, the Coast Guard said.
“Any outstanding discrepancies or work items requiring resolution will be annotated on the form. The signed DD250 represents conditional acceptance of the cutter by the Coast Guard from the contractor,” the service added.
Before conditionally accepting Bertholf, the Coast Guard’s agency acquisition executive, Vice Adm. Vivien Crea, will consider the recommendations of INSURV, Bertholf prospective Commanding Officer Capt. Patrick Stadt, and a Coast Guard executive board consisting of senior members representing the Coast Guard’s acquisition directorate, operations directorate (program sponsor), and independent technical authorities, including the chief engineer and chief information officer, according to the Coast Guard.
Conditional acceptance could occur as early as April 30, upon approval of the agency acquisition executive, the Coast Guard added.
Once accepted, the cutter will be turned over to the Coast Guard permanent crew and enter “In Commission, Special” status prior to formal commissioning into service scheduled for August.
“In Commission Special” status indicates that the cutter is not doing regular patrols but is instead training the crew and testing equipment prior to beginning normal operations, according to the Coast Guard.
Formal acceptance of Bertholf will be a major milestone in a lengthy testing and evaluation period, that will follow delivery, over the next 22-24 months, to ensure the ship meets all technical requirements and the crew is fully trained and certified before it becomes an operational cutter within the Coast Guard’s fleet, the service said.