The United States is building 13 small patrol vessels, based on the Damen Stan 2606 patrol vessel design, for small Caribbean nations, to be known as the Defiant class.[1][2][3] The United States Navy, which will play an oversight role in the ship's construction, also calls the design Near Coastal Patrol Vessels. The $54 million contract was awarded to Metal Shark Boats of Louisiana.[4]
The vessels will be able to accommodate a crew of ten or more—similar to the Marine Protector class.[3] The vessels are powered by a pair of C32 Caterpillar 2,000 shaft horsepower (1,500 kW) diesel engines.
Pacific-class patrol boat – in the late 1980s, Australia provided 12 Pacific Island countries with small patrol vessels
Guardian-class patrol boat – Australian-built replacements for the patrol vessels it provided its neighbours, gifted to the same 12 Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste
References
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Jon Rosamund (26 April 2016). "US plans Latin American patrol vessel". Maritime Security. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2018. The US Navy has released details of a 75-85ft (23-26m) 'mothership' which officials hope will bolster the maritime security capabilities of partner nations in and around the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
^"Damen and Metal Shark partner for FMS patrol boat project". Marine Log. 7 July 2017. Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018. The US Navy recently selected Louisiana-based Metal Shark to build Near Coastal Patrol Vessels (NCPVs) for United States partner nations through the Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program (see earlier story).
^ ab"85 Defiant Class Near Coastal Patrol Vessels (NCPVs)". Naval Technology. Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018. The large aft deck of the vessel can house a 5.5m-long, ten-person rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB). The integrated stern slipway aboard the vessel will enable the launch and recovery of the boat.
^"Damen, Metal Shark partner for NCPVs". Maritime Security. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018. Under the terms of the FMS, Metal Shark is building up to 13,85ft Defiant class welded aluminium cutters for the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and other US partner nations.
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Chuck Hill (23 June 2018). "Metal Shark Builds WPBs for FMS". Chuck Hill's blog. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018. The Metal Shark boats are a version of Damen's Stan Patrol 2606 design, so nominally 26 meters long and 6 meters of beam, but according to the Website, 87′ length overall with a beam of 19'6″. The Marine Protector Class were also a Damen 2600 series design, so the two classes share a great deal of DNA.
