Coast Guard Deepwater program adapting to post-9/11 realities.

• Author: Kelly, Richard R.
• Position: Integrated Deepwater System

This summer, the Coast Guard moved into the second year of executing its comprehensive recapitalization program--the Integrated Deepwater System.

Deepwater began in 1998 as a 20- to 30-year program to replace the Coast Guard's aging and increasingly obsolete inventory of aircraft, surface vessels and supporting systems. Following the Coast Guard's alignment under the Department of Homeland Security in March 2003, Deepwater will address emerging mission needs in support of the Coast Guard's new Maritime Strategy for Homeland Security, as well as the performance of all of its multiple missions.

Key to this process is the identification and validation of new and evolving programmatic requirements, the development of consensus among Deepwater's many stakeholders, and the harmonization of efforts with the Department of Homeland Security (and its five directorates), the Department of Defense, and other federal, state and local agencies.

The need to balance Deepwater's desired capabilities with best value argues against a future posing constantly changing requirements. Yet, for a program originally conceived long before 9/11, and projected to last more than 20 years, it is imperative that the process for generating and validating new requirements be timely and responsive to evolving demands.

Deepwater always will be a work in progress. The program will upgrade existing surface and air assets while developing new and more capable platforms--including improved systems for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and advanced logistics capabilities. The entire Deepwater system will consist of three classes of new cutters and their associated small boats, a new and upgraded fixed-wing manned aircraft fleet, a combination of new and upgraded helicopters, and both cutter-based and land-based unmanned aerial vehicles. Other Coast Guard platforms, (including ice breakers, buoy tenders, and small boats) are not a part of the IDS program.

Of $6.8 billion approved for the Coast Guard in fiscal year 2004, $668 million is allocated to the Integrated Deepwater System. The appropriation includes $143 million for aircraft, which covers the purchase of a CASA 235 maritime patrol aircraft; $303 million to be used in part for construction of the first 424-foot National Security Cutter; $101 million for the development of a network-centric command and control system; $ 45 million for a common logistics information system, and $50 million for the development of a vertical takeoff-and-landing unmanned aerial vehicle that will deploy from IDS cutters.

The program's requirements are based on the roles and missions stipulated for the Coast Guard by statute and congressional mandate. The "Major Systems Acquisition Manual" served as a starting point for initiating this comprehensive acquisition program and defining its requirements. The original mission need statement bears well under the pressure of continually evolving system requirements...