Coast Guard's future depends on Deepwater: Current fleet lacks technologies needed to tackle emerging seaborne threats.

• Author: Stillman, Patrick M.
• Position: View Point

The Deepwater program, which began in 1996, is designed to provide the Coast Guard with the necessary tools to perform its maritime homeland security mission. The future of the nation's maritime security depends on the successful implementation of the Integrated Deepwater System program.

Maritime homeland security--the protection of U.S. resources, littoral infrastructure and coastal regions--has been a Coast Guard mission since Alexander Hamilton, in 1787, called for "a few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrances of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws."

The September 11 attacks demonstrated that terrorists are willing to take advantage of weaknesses in our transportation and commerce networks. The U.S. coastline presents an array of attractive targets including ports, military facilities, cargo ships, oil tankers, nuclear power plants and oil refineries. Attacks on these targets could damage critical military facilities, shut down vital economic hubs and cause economic and environmental disasters.

The U.S. maritime transportation system is vulnerable. The sheer volume of maritime traffic entering the United States, combined with the imperative of maintaining an open trading system, complicates the task of weeding our illegitimate traffic. More than 7,500 foreign-flag ships visit the United States every year, many with multinational crews and cargo. Smugglers already take advantage of our relatively open borders and waterways. We cannot discount the possibility that terrorists and weapons will be infiltrated via the same routes.

The amount of territory involved is enormous and diverse, covering more than 350 ports and 95,000 miles of coastline. The Coast Guard must operate in a wide variety of environments, from Arctic waters to the Caribbean. Additionally, the volume of trade entering the United States is large and will continue to increase in the future. Some experts believe that maritime trade could triple by 2020.

The present system for monitoring and responding to 'potential threats is inadequate. A critical component of our maritime homeland security strategy will be our ability to push out our borders by identifying and stopping threats well before they reach U.S. shores. This strategy prevents those who would harm the United States from blending in with legitimate maritime traffic and allows the Coast Guard time to rake action.

The current fleet does nor have the technological...