Brenda Marie Rivers
Eastern Shipbuilding Group collaborated with Northrop Grumman to conduct a final critical design review of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter on June 27 and 28.
Northrop said Monday it serves as the integrator of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and control systems under the OPC program.
The company will manage an OPC C4ISR test and integration facility and a land-based test facility for the vessel’s control systems in Charlottesville, Va. The production readiness review is scheduled to occur later this year.
The Coast Guard awarded Eastern Shipbuilding a long-lead-time material contract in September of last year to obtain equipment needed to build the ship.
According to Northrop, the service branch looks to procure 25 new cutters to combat transnational organized criminal networks off Central America and patrolling the Arctic region, among other missions.
