Coast Guard weighs changes to multibillion-dollar modernization deal
The service struggles to keep pace with homeland security demands.
The Coast Guard will decide this summer what changes to make to its $17 billion modernization program to meets its expanded homeland security mission since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins.
Collins said Tuesday morning that the modernization program, known as Deepwater, needs to be expanded, but the questions that must be answered are by how much and in what areas.
In 2002, the Coast Guard signed a $17 billion deal with Integrated Coast Guard Systems, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., to renovate ships and aircraft, and to design, build and a maintain a new-generation of equipment for the maritime security force over the next 20 years.
Collins said, however, that the Coast Guard's requirements for Deepwater were created in 1998 and were not updated before the 2002 contract award. Since the requirements were first crafted, Coast Guard ships have been wearing out faster than expected and have been used far more frequently because of stepped-up homeland security, he said.
"There's a huge demand for our services since 9/11, and the question is how do you deal with them," said Collins, noting the Coast Guard's budget has increased by 50 percent and personnel by 10 percent in the three years since the attacks.
The service has commissioned two independent assessments by the RAND Corp. and Center for Naval Analysis, and is completing an in-house review to determine how the modernization program might be changed. Collins said the assessments will pinpoint performance gaps.
A new mix of aircraft is likely because of the increased need for strategic airlift in homeland security missions. One option, Collins said, could be buying a variant of the Air Force's C-130 aircraft, which is manufactured by Deepwater contractor Lockheed Martin. Also, the Coast Guard will weigh accelerating the fielding of some equipment, such as the new fast-cutter boat.
The RAND study, released in April, called for accelerating fleet modernization by five to 10 years and buying nearly twice as many cutters, unmanned aerial vehicles and multimission helicopters at an added cost of $8.5 billion. Collins said the RAND proposal was the "outer limits" of the options being considered.