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 out 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 take action.
The current fleet does not have the technological capability or
sufficiently reliable assets to detect and respond to every type
of terrorist threat to American ports.
The Coast Guard does not lack experience, talent or dedication.
However, it lacks the modern platforms and systems to perform its
future missions effectively and efficiently. The Coast Guard’s
fleet of cutters, patrol boats and aircraft is rapidly aging and
technologically obsolete. This situation results in excessive maintenance
and support costs, endangers lives and impedes the ability of the
service to perform its missions.
The fleet of medium and high-endurance cutters is currently the
37th oldest of the world’s 39 similarly-sized naval fleets.
Most of the Coast Guard’s deepwater assets will have reached
the end of their service lives by the end of the decade.
The Integrated Deepwater System (IDS), the Coast Guard’s
recapitalization program for these assets, is the solution. Far
more than a one-for-one replacement effort, the IDS will provide
the Coast Guard with a state-of-the-market integrated system of
assets to detect and respond to maritime threats. The Deepwater
program has followed a cutting-edge mission-based performance acquisition
strategy to achieve this goal.
Three industry teams were given the flexibility to design a system
to fulfill mission requirements, with the only specified platform
being the National Security Cutter. Funding this program is critical
to provide the men and women of the Coast Guard with the necessary
capabilities to perform their missions.
The Coast Guard established the Deepwater program executive office
in April 2001. The complexity of the program necessitated the establishment
of this organization, the first in the service’s history.
In June 2001, Acquisition Solutions Inc. completed an independent
assessment of the Deepwater acquisition strategy. Phase 1 of the
procurement strategy was completed on June 15. Three industry teams
prepared conceptual designs for Deepwater. The three prime contractors
during Phase 1 were Litton-Avondale Industries, Lockheed Martin
Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems, and Science Applications
International Corporation.
The Phase 2 Request for Proposals was released on June 29. Proposals
were received on September 28. The Coast Guard currently is reviewing
the proposals and the contract is scheduled for award in the third
quarter of fiscal year 2002. The Coast Guard’s 2002 budget
includes $320 million for Deepwater.
The Integrated Deepwater System will provide the appropriate tools
for the Coast Guard to anticipate and respond to potential threats
in a timely fashion, as well as optimize the use of its assets by
concentrating them in the areas where they are most needed.
The system will provide:
Deepwater is critical to maritime domain awareness, the cornerstone
of the Coast Guard’s strategy to protect U.S. shores. The
ability to execute the Deepwater task sequence—survey, detect,
classify, identify and prosecute—depends on the success of
the program.
The ability to interdict and board ships is a key element in law
enforcement, as well as the verification of shipping information.
Future Deepwater assets will have the necessary surveillance, speed,
agility and firepower to overcome the sophisticated equipment available
to today’s smugglers, terrorists and other potential adversaries.
Deepwater assets also will be able to perform as command-and-control
centers to coordinate effective response to homeland attacks. Its
coordination with the National Distress and Response Modernization
Project will boost this capability. The NDRSMP will modernize and
upgrade the increasingly obsolescent, national distress and response
system used to monitor the international distress frequency, coordinate
search and rescue response operations, and communicate with commercial
and recreational vessels that might be at risk.
The upgraded distress and response system will provide the foundation
for a Coast Guard command-and-control network for units protecting
U.S. ports and coastlines—including deepwater ships and aircraft.
Preventing Attacks
We must prepare for the day when our efforts to prevent terrorist
attacks fail and another tragedy occurs. The Coast Guard will be
on the front lines—performing consequence management missions
and providing command-and-control support for extended periods of
time.
But even though homeland security has become a pressing concern,
the Coast Guard’s other missions of ensuring maritime safety,
maritime mobility, natural resource protection, and national defense
have not waned. Indeed, the 1999 Interagency Task Force on Coast
Guard Roles and Missions concluded that the United States “will
continue to need a flexible, adaptable, multi-mission, military
Coast Guard to meet national maritime interests and requirements
well into the next century.”
Meeting these requirements, in addition to increased homeland security
demands, has placed a strain on the service. The introduction of
more capable assets will help to address this problem. The Deepwater
advanced communications technology will enable more efficient allocation
of Coast Guard assets, helping the service to perform its traditional
missions while fulfilling its homeland security role.
The Coast Guard also performs missions in conjunction with the
Navy. These include overseas port security, enforcement of economic
sanctions, and force protection. The National Fleet concept signed
in September 1998 and reaffirmed in 2001 addresses Coast Guard/Navy
integration, as well as coordinated planning, training, research,
development and procurement between the two services.
However, the men and women of the Coast Guard will not have the
tools to do their jobs without sustained funding of Deepwater.
The United States Coast Guard—particularly its deepwater
force of cutters and aircraft—is especially relevant to maritime
homeland security.
The service has a proven track record of performing homeland security
missions, from interdicting drug smugglers to hazardous waste cleanup.
The Coast Guard was one of the first federal agencies on scene on
September 11.
Coast Guard forces previously assigned to other operations—including
55 cutters, 42 aircraft, and thousands of personnel—were immediately
reassigned to homeland security tasks.
Deepwater assets, including four helicopters and the USCGC Tahoma,
were among the first to respond. Around the United States, cutters
patrolled offshore and in harbors to maintain a deterrent presence
and escort high-value ships (such as cruise ships, tankers) into
and out of American ports.
The Coast Guard also brings specialized law enforcement capabilities
to the table, having the legal authority to conduct maritime law
enforcement operations. These capabilities will be immensely important
as national security strategies increasingly incorporate a blend
of military and law enforcement missions. nd
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Patrick M. Stillman is program executive
officer for the Deepwater program.