The Legend-class National Security Cutter connects long-range presence with drug interdiction, maritime regulation, partner relations, and fisheries monitoring. China and several other states also use large coast guard ships to maintain maritime presence. A cutter can operate as a 70 percent solution on missions that do not require a full warship, freeing naval units to preserve their higher training and technical standards for combat. Requiring the cutter to provide the complete warfighting solution would mean that the situation had already deteriorated badly.
Chapter · 40:36-43:02
National Security Cutters relieve warships
Large Coast Guard cutters provide persistent maritime-security presence and let high-end warships concentrate on missions requiring their full combat capability.