Hateruma class patrol vessel is a class of PL type patrol vessels

Patrol boat

A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...

 of the Japan Coast Guard

Japan Coast Guard

The , formerly the Maritime Safety Agency, is the Japanese coast guard. Comprising about 12,000 personnel, it is under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and is responsible for the protection the coast-lines of Japan...

. PL stands for "Patrol vessel Large", and the class name "Hateruma" is named after Hateruma

Hateruma

Hateruma is an island in the Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Part of the town Taketomi, it is the southern-most inhabited island in Japan at 24°2’25” north latitude, 123°47’16” east longitude...

-jima, the southernmost inhabited island of Japan.

Aiming at policing of Senkaku Islands

Senkaku Islands

The , also known as the Diaoyu Islands or Diaoyutai Islands or the Pinnacle Islands, are a group of disputed uninhabited islands in the East China Sea...

, they can be floating base for smaller patrol crafts or helicopters, so they are called "", Patrol vessel, Sea-basing capability enhaunced.

Ships of this class are equipped with one single-mounted Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm autocannon

Autocannon

An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...

 with laser-optical fire-control system

Fire-control system

A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...

. The 30mm-caliber

30 mm caliber

30 mm caliber ammunition is usually used in autocannon. Such ammunition includes NATO standard 30 × 173 mm and 30 × 113 mm and Soviet 30 × 165 mm ammunition widely used around the world....

 autocannon is entirely new caliber for the JCG, and it give this class an increased firepower compared with usual 1,000 ton-class patrol vessels which has only one manually controlled 20mm vulcan

M61 Vulcan

The M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically or pneumatically driven, six-barreled, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate. The M61 and its derivatives have been the principal cannon armament of United States military fixed-wing aircraft...

. This gun system is more powerful than 20mm vulcan with the RFS (Remote Firing System: Remote weapon system associated with the simplified laser-optical Fire-control system

Fire-control system

A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...

) which is on board with recent PMs and PSs such as Tsurugi class

Tsurugi class patrol vessel

The Tsurugi class （） is a class of small patrol vessel of the Japan Coast Guard . The development of this class was one of the earliest attempts of the JCG to deal with spy boats from North Korea...

, and more reasonable than Bofors 40 mm L/70 gun with the laser-optical FCS which is on board with High-speed, high-functionality PLs such as Hida class and Aso class.

This class has the helicopter deck wide enough to operate with Eurocopter EC225 helicopters to airlift supplies for small patrol crafts keeping Senkaku Islands under surveillance. And the broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

 SATCOM

Communications satellite

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...

 system of this class can relay video data from helicopters to the ground station or the HQ of the JCG. This class is equipped with the LIDAR

LIDAR

LIDAR is an optical remote sensing technology that can measure the distance to, or other properties of a target by illuminating the target with light, often using pulses from a laser...

 system to acquire targets with high accuracy, and at the same time, this system enables them to perform search and rescue

Search and rescue

Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...

 mission more safely.

The JCG intends to build a number of ships of this design for the successor of PL-101 Shiretoko-class. Shiretoko-class is the older 1,000 ton-class PLs, twenty-eight ships were built in late 1970s and early 1980s.

Ships in the class

PL61 Hateruma

Commissioned: 2008 April

Home port:Ishigaki, Okinawa

Ishigaki, Okinawa

Ishigaki is an island west of Okinawa Hontō and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group. It is within the City of Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture. The city functions as the business and transport center of the archipelago...

PL62 Hakata

Commissioned: 2009 February

Home port:Fukuoka

Fukuoka

Fukuoka most often refers to the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture.It can also refer to:-Locations:* Fukuoka, Gifu, a town in Gifu Prefecture, Japan* Fukuoka, Toyama, a town in Toyama Prefecture, Japan...

PL63 Yonakuni

Commissioned: 2009 February

Home port:Ishigaki, Okinawa

PL64 Motobu

Commissioned: 2009 March

Home port:Naha, Okinawa

Naha, Okinawa

is the capital city of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa.Naha is a coastal city located on the East China Sea coast of the southern part of Okinawa Island, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands...

PL65 Kunigami

Commissioned: 2009 March

Home port:Nakagusuku, Okinawa

Nakagusuku, Okinawa

is a village located in Nakagami District, Okinawa, Japan.As of 2008, the village has an estimated population of 16,462 and a density of 1,065 persons per km². The total area is 15.46 km²....

PL66 Shikine

Commissioned:2009 October

Home port:Port of Yokohama

Port of Yokohama

The is operated by the Port and Harbor Bureau of the City of Yokohama in Japan. It opens onto Tokyo Bay. The port is located at a latitude of 35.27.–00°N and a longitude of 139.38–46°E. To the south lies the Port of Yokosuka; to the north, the ports of Kawasaki and Tokyo.-Facilities:Yokohama Port...

PL67 Amagi

Commissioned:2010 March

Home port:Shimoda, Shizuoka

Shimoda, Shizuoka

is a city and port in Shizuoka, Japan.As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 25,054 and a population density of 242 persons per square kilometer...

PL68 Suzuka

Commissioned:2010 March

Home port:Owase, Mie

Owase, Mie

is a city located in the south of Mie, Japan. As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 21,002 and the density of 109 persons per km². The total area is 193.16 km²....

PL69 Koshiki

Commissioned:2010 March

Home port:Kagoshima