Enclosure (1) to COMDTINST 16114.20
b. FUTURE FORCE: A capability based boat force mix. The desired end state of the
Shore-Based Response Boat Transition and Siting Plan has greater than 90% of shore-
based response boats belonging to one of four standard fleets. The following tables list
our future state boat type designations by standard and non-standard boat category.
(1) Standard Boat Types: Recent analysis, site visits and discussions with operational
commanders have revealed one gap in the Shore-Based Response Boat Siting Plan
provided to operational commanders for review in Aug 1999. A requirement exists
for a small fleet of near-shore surf capable boats that cannot be met by the 47' MLB
fleet. The 47' MLB fleet is unable to meet this need because of its draft and
limitations on fleet size. Defining this need is still in progress and the notations in
enclosure (2) indicate only a preliminary assessment.
Boat Class
47' Motor Lifeboat (MLB)
Near Shore Lifeboat (NLB)
Response Boat Medium (RB-M)
Response Boat Small (RB-S)
47' Motor Lifeboat (47' MLB) - The 47' MLB will be the primary heavy
weather and surf response boat for the Coast Guard. It will also provide the
shore-based response boat system's heavy towing capacity. The acquisition of
the 47' Motor Lifeboats, for strategic planning purposes, is closed out. 117
production version MLBs are being produced. Three pre-production hulls will
be retained in long-term dry storage as attrition spares (they will not be operated
unless and until they are reconfigured to the existing standard and safe
configuration).
Near-Shore Lifeboat (NLB) - The NLB will be the shore-based response boat
that will serve in locations where heavy weather or surf capability is required
but, because of environmental factors, mission workload or support capability, a
47' MLB is inappropriate. This small fleet is still in the concept development
stage. Preliminary schedule is for concept development in FY01 through FY03,
and acquisition in FY04.
Response Boat Medium (RB-M) - The RB-M will provide the primary non-
heavy weather multi-mission capability at response units. All multi-mission
stations will be equipped with at least an MLB, NLB or RB-M. This boat fleet
will be acquired through a major AC&I acquisition. A project officer has been
assigned to Commandant (G-OCS), further project definition is underway now,
prototyping is expected in FY03, and the beginning of full acquisition is
expected to begin in FY04.
5
Previous Page
