Re: UN Fleet "cutter" names, slightly OT

RM Gill wrote:

>Typically a cutter is underfitted with minimal systems. In time of war,
>then they are outfitted with more weapons/sensors/ECM/Commo gear. One
>would probably only find them with more than enough armament to deal
with
>ships in a Law Enforcement enviornment. However as there is a state of
>war during the time of 2183, I'd say the Cutters would be fitted out to
>the DE or FF level depending on hull size/intended purpose...

Cutters typically have minimal need for force in law enforcement-type
missions.  It should appear overwhelming to the potential violator, but
that's easily handled by the 3" gun of larger cutters, or even the 25mm
cannon of slightly smaller ones (say a single class-1).

Of course, at the climax of the Cold War, high-end USCG cutters were
intended as viable naval escorts, and had a pretty heavy weapons suite: 
5"
gun, 2 "4-packs" of Harpoon SSMs, a 20mm CIWS, a pair of triple ASW
torpedo
tube mounts, hull-mounted sonar, fair sensors and some countermeasures
capabilty (chaff rockets).  That might add up to a class-1, a PDS and
maybe
a MT missile (or abstract the Harpoons as another class-1, or even a
class-2!).

Most of that capability has been removed in recent years as excessive
(and
expensive!), but a current "high-end" cutter still mounts a 3" gun and a
CIWS.

Keep 'Em Flying,

Kent