The Coast Guard’s plan to upgrade its aging fleet could help
improve the competitiveness of the U.S. shipbuilding industry, regardless
of the number of ships the Coast Guard buys, experts said.
The modernization effort is called “Integrated Deepwater
Systems.” Under this program, the Coast Guard would replace
93 cutters, 206 aircraft and all its communications systems, over
a 20-year period. Three contractor teams currently are competing
for a March 2002 award.
The number of ships needed to modernize the Coast Guard’s
fleet of cutters and patrol boats alone would generate significant
business for a U.S. shipyard. But, if the Coast Guard decided to
buy commercially-designed ships as part of the Deepwater fleet—instead
of only traditional military-type vessels—it would spawn potentially
lucrative export opportunities for U.S. industry.
“If Deepwater is allowed to have a commercial hull, we have
a real shot at having the first U.S. government-built vessel that
is highly exportable to many countries,” said Michael J. Brown,
executive vice president of AMI International, a naval analysis
firm in Bremerton, Wash.
Unlike most U.S. Navy ship programs, Deepwater does not specify
to contractors how many ships or aircraft to include in their proposals.
The project focuses on “capabilities, not [the number of]
platforms,” said the program executive officer, Coast Guard
Rear Adm. Patrick Stillman.
The guidelines to contractors, however, allow for “commercially
available and non-developmental items” to be used as the “building
blocks, components and assets of the integrated Deepwater system.”
According to Brown, who specializes in global market trends in
the shipbuilding industry, if Deepwater included a commercial hull,
instead of U.S. Navy-specified hulls, “that levels the playing
field to be able to export it.” That would be a boon for the
industry, said Brown, because shipyards would be able to compete
in the global market, unencumbered by the export restrictions associated
with U.S. Navy ships.
Northrop Grumman Litton-Avondale Industries, Lockheed Martin Corp.
and Science Applications International Corp. lead three separate
industry teams competing for Deepwater. Their proposals were due
June 15.
Richard Turner, program manager for Deepwater at Lockheed Martin,
declined to comment on the potential use of commercial hulls in
his company’s proposal. “It gives away my solution to
the other competitors,” he said. Turner noted that his team
has looked at commercial vessels, such as a British trimaran.
The Deepwater project was conceived in 1998, when each team received
a $7 million contract to develop concepts. In fiscal 2002, when
the program starts the next phase, it will receive $338 million.
The Coast Guard expects to spend approximately $10 billion over
a 20-year period.
This program differs radically from traditional Navy modernization
efforts, experts noted.
“When we think about the Coast Guard, we have to think in
different terms from those of us who are used to Navy terms,”
said Norman Polmar, a naval analyst. Coast Guard ships are underway
more often and perform more work per deployment than the Navy, he
said. Unlike the Navy, which often takes ships to sea for combat
exercises, Coast Guard cutters are, on a daily basis, performing
rescue, search and anti-drug operations. Deepwater missions are
defined as those 50 miles from shore. Other operations include airplane
crash rescue and recovery and oil-spill cleanups.
The largest Coast Guard cutters are 12 Secretary-class 378-feet
long vessels, which are comparable to navy frigates. The centerpiece
of the Deepwater system is a so-called “national security
cutter,” a multi-mission ship which the Coast Guard required
contractors to include in their proposals, to replace the Secretary-Class
cutters.
The average age of current Coast Guard ships is 33 years, said
Capt. Robert Parker, who commands the USS Mellon, a Hamilton-class
278-foot cutter, one of the largest in service today. By comparison,
a navy surface combatant has a service life of 30 years. Coast Guard
cutters have a 35-year expected lifespan.
In an interview, Parker said he hoped the Deepwater program will
address the need to improve maintenance on ships and provide systems
that can handle the harsh demands of long-distance sea travel. “In
the Pacific, the distances are just frightening,” said Parker.
“Days and days of steaming, usually without seeing anyone.”
The current cutters are old, so it’s difficult to get parts,
Parker said. The aging structures make them unsafe and vulnerable
to flooding. The guns are outdated, he added, so the Navy does not
buy parts or ammunition for them any longer.
The Deepwater ships will be equipped with new guns. Current cutters
have the 76 mm Mk 75 gun, made by United Defense LP (UDLP), under
license from Italy’s Otobreda. “It’s a terrific
weapon [and] very accurate,” said Parker. But, he added, the
guns are old and “harder to support.”
UDLP is proposing three weapons variants for Deepwater: the Mk
75 76 mm 62 caliber naval gun, and two other guns from its Bofors
Defence division, in Sweden—the Mk 3 57 mm and the Mk 3 40
mm.
Otobreda, meanwhile, is proposing an upgraded version of its 76
mm 62-caliber gun, called Super Rapid. This gun is in the proposals
of Avondale and SAIC. The Lockheed Martin team has an agreement
with UDLP.