
The Coast Guard on July 31 exercised a $273 million contract option with Austal USA to start construction on its second Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) and acquire long-lead material on the third vessel. Under a June 2022 contract worth up to $3.3 billion, the Alabama-based Austal USA was selected to build up to 11 OPCs as the Stage 2 version, starting with the future cutter Pickering. Austal started construction on Pickering a year ago (Defense Daily, Aug. 30, 2024). The…