Coast Guard accepts first new response boat

[unhappycamper]

The Response Boat-Medium is an all-aluminum, 45-foot boat with twin diesel engines with water jet propulsion that is expected to be the primary non-heavy weather, multi-mission capable boat for the Coast Guard.


Coast Guard accepts first new response boat
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 7, 2008 20:12:57 EDT

The Coast Guard took delivery Monday of its first new 45-foot Response Boat-Medium at Coast Guard Station Little Creek Va., the service announced — the first of six new craft that are to become the workhorses of small boat stations throughout the U.S.

The Coast Guard’s chief of acquisitions, Rear Adm. Gary Blore, called the new RB-M “a quantum leap forward” from the 41-foot utility boats now in use. The all-aluminum RB-M is faster, more maneuverable and more comfortable than its predecessor, service officials say, and it can right itself even if rough seas flip it over (See video of an RB-M flip).

The 132 legacy utility boats, built at the Coast Guard shipyard in Baltimore between 1973 and 1982, are old and heavily used, acquisition spokeswoman Laura Williams said. Over the next decade, the Coast Guard will replace the older boats with the $2 million-per-copy RB-M until there is a full fleet of 180 RB-Ms.

The RB-M has twin diesel water-jet engines that give it a top speed of around 40 knots and a range of about 50 nautical miles. It also has a fully enclosed, climate-controlled cabin that includes four special shock-absorbing seats to help its crew endure sea pounding.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/04/coastguard_new_boats_040708w/



uhc comment: The cost of the Response Boat-Medium is $2,500,000 --> http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:gnbyd9fMgdkJ:www.responseboatproject.net/News/External/rbm_news_02.pdf+Response+Boat-Medium+%2B+cost&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us