The Damen Group shipbuilders, based in the Netherlands, has managed the manufacture of Damen Stan patrol vessel 4708 for South Africa and the United States.[1][2] The vessels, like the earlier Damen Stan patrol vessel 4207, are designed for high speed coastal patrols. They can be flexibly configured to serve in a constabulary, environmental protection, or warship role.
According to Sanjay Badri-Maharaj, of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, adding more powerful engines, an autocannon, and military class sensor suite to the United States Coast Guard's Sentinel-class cutters boosted its cost per vessel from $20 million USD to $65 million.[3]
The United States Sentinel class suffered even worse price inflation with the cost of the vessel's 25mm gun, surveillance system and C4I suite increasing its price by over 300% from approximately USD 20 million for the basic SPa 4708 to a staggering USD 65 million....even with these enhancements, the vessels, while certainly capable of performing their intended tasks of coastal patrol and interdiction, still fall below the standard of naval Fast Attack Craft (Gun) such as the Indian Car Nicobar class and its successors.
