Page 56: of Marine News Magazine (November 2012)

a Firm Fixed-priced, IndeÞ nite Delivery IndeÞ nite Quantity contract to MetalCraft Marine US, Inc. of Clayton, NY. That deal calls for up to ten Cutter Boat Long Range Interceptor IIÕs (CB-LRI-II) that will deploy from USCG National Security Cutters. METAL SHARKÕS RESPONSE BOAT -SMALL (RB-S) IIThe Response Boat-Small (RB- S) is intended to perform a myriad of missions for the Coast Guard, including but not limited to Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security (PWCS), Search and Rescue (SAR), Drug Interdiction (DRUG), Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations (AMIO), Living Marine Resources (LMR), Defense Readiness (DR) and Other Law Enforcement (OLE) missions. Under a phased, competitive procurement, the initial contract award called for Metal Shark and another contractor to produce one boat each. The Coast Guard then exercised a delivery order valued at approximately $13 million on September 26, 2011 to Metal Shark Aluminum Boats for the production of 38 units. Eventually and in August of this year, the Coast Guard placed a second delivery order with Metal Shark for another 25 boats Ð valued at $8.1 million Ð and this brought the total number of boats on order to 63. The U.S. Coast Guard took delivery of the Þ rst new Response Boat-Small (RB-S) II in June. Eventually, it is intended that the RB-S II will replace the Defender-class RB-S, of which there are more than 400 still in service. And, because the Defender-class RB-S is the largest vessel class in the Coast Guard ß eet, this replacement program is especially important. In the choppy wake of other Deepwater recapitalization failures, the Coast Guard wants to get this one right. So far, it looks like they are on the right track. The new RB-S II has a length of 29 feet, and is powered by twin 225-horsepower (hp) Honda outboards producing a top speed of over 45 knots with a range of 150 nautical miles. The turnkey delivered boats all come with their own Evolution, Patriot Series trailers. OutÞ tted with a standardized communications and navigation suite and designed to improve functional design and crew comfort, the RB-S II will be operated by a crew of four. RB-S is also weapons-ready, with multiple weapons racks and an integrated weapons-ready mounting system at the bow. The forward- November 201256 MNMNNov2012 Layout 50-65.indd 56MNNov2012 Layout 50-65.indd 5611/7/2012 1:37:52 PM11/7/2012 1:37:52 PM