Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., on Tuesday said it held a ceremony to mark the official start of construction on the second U.S. Coast Guard Heritage-class offshore patrol cutter (OPC) to be built at its facility. The vessel, USCGC Icarus (WSMM 920), is part of a series that could include up to 11 cutters under a $3.3 billion contract.
The news follows the award of a $273 million contract option for the ship's construction plus the acquisition of long lead-time material to support a third OPC build, the shipbuilder's parent company, Austal Ltd., Henderson, Australia, announced.
The 360'x54'x17' OPCs — also known by the designation WMSM, for maritime security cutter, medium — are designed to replace the Coast Guard’s aging fleet of medium endurance cutters, serving a role between the larger national security cutters and the smaller fast response cutters.
Designed to operate beyond 12 nautical miles offshore, OPCs will support law enforcement, interdiction, search and rescue, and emergency response missions. Each will have a 10,200-nautical-mile range at 14 knots, 60-day endurance, and will be able to deploy independently, with task groups, or as mobile command centers during surge events.
The 11 Heritage-class cutters being built by Austal USA represent the second stage of the overall OPC program. These follow the first two OPCs — originally part of a larger 2016 contract awarded to Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc., Panama City, Fla., to build up to nine cutters. However, that contract was scaled back to four ships after Hurricane Michael devastated Eastern’s shipyard in 2018, and was further reduced to just two vessels earlier this year.
The Coast Guard has said it plans to commission up to 25 Heritage-class cutters over the next two decades. In 2019, it revised its acquisition strategy and launched a competitive bidding process for additional OPC construction. Austal USA secured the contract in June 2022.
To prepare for the OPC program, Austal USA has invested more than $500 million to expand its facilities. This includes the construction of a new 192,000-square-foot assembly building with three bays — two of which are dedicated to OPC assembly — boosting the company’s capacity to produce both aluminum and steel vessels simultaneously.
The builder started construction on the series' first vessel, USCGC Pickering (WSMM 919), in August 2024.
“Construction on the first OPC is well underway and we are excited to begin building our second OPC, Icarus,” Harley Combs, vice president surface programs at Austal USA, said in a statement. “Our steel production line is running smoothly with all of the steel modules under construction for Pickering.”
“The Austal USA team have optimised the hull structure design of the first steel-hull OPC, Pickering, which will deliver a more efficient build process, a reduction in vessel weight and ultimately a longer vessel life expectancy,” Austal CEO Paddy Gregg said in a statement.
“Austal USA has also developed a new 3-D model of the OPC, that is enabling each vessel module manufactured in Mobile, Alabama, to be completed to an industry-leading level of completion," Gregg continued. "The team are effectively setting new benchmarks for manufacturing productivity and efficiency with the OPC program.”
Including Pickering and Icarus, Austal USA has seven ships currently under construction.
