CASR

Canadian
American
Strategic
Review

Port Security, Coastal Patrol, & Maritime Defence  –  23 May 2004 'Integrated Deepwater Systems'  –  The United States focuses on port security and comprehensive coastal patrol Adm. Thomas H. Collins, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard Special Report** (excerpts), Sea Power, April 2003, Navy League of the US [Ed: The United States Coast Guard has a close relationship with the US Navy.  The Coast  Guard  has  specific  constabulary powers when operating in ports or within the EEZ. Although part of the US military, the Coast Guard must rely on the back-up of the Navy when the nation's security is at  risk.   The  purpose of  the  Deepwater Project is to bring all USCG assets up to a level  of  operational  efficiency  that  will guarantee a seamless continuity between the layered inshore forces and the Navy.] Upgrading USCG assets Over the years, all classes of USCG cutters have experienced a steady decline in readiness that has taken them well below our target levels. Our goal is to be free of major machinery or equipment casualties 72 percent of the time. At the end of 2001, our  378-foot,  high-endurance cutters spent only 27 percent   of  the time  free  of  major  problems  in  the  'C3'  and  'C4'  readiness  categories. (These are the  two  lowest  categories  of  material  readiness  included  in  the Department  of  Defense's   four-tiered system).   Nearly  half   (22)  of  our  49 110-foot patrol boats have experienced significant degradation in hull integrity. In the skies, our HC-130H long-range search aircraft benefited from an infusion of program funding in recent years, but only the HH-65 helicopter meets our target of 71 percent availability. Many of our aircraft also continue to operate with obsolete sensors or systems possessing limited capabilities. Current connectivity deficiencies – another reflection on the limitations imposed by aging legacy systems and our previous platform-centric acquisition practices – are especially worrisome, given today's compelling need to be able to transfer data and information quickly on an international playing field. The need to support and maintain an antiquated, platform-centric force also presents extraordinary logistical challenges. I am constantly impressed by the way our young men and women are able – mostly through their hard work and ingenuity – to keep our aircraft flying and our cutters at sea. The Coast Guard's spiral of declining readiness is the compound result of many factors: deferred modernization, aging assets, increased maintenance, higher total-ownership costs, past funding migration to support current operations. To implement our new maritime homeland security plan, the Coast Guard needs new capabilities. The Integrated Deepwater System will deliver precisely those needed capabilities when the platforms and systems envisioned in this program begin to enter service. Fortunately,   the past   two years'   funding increases*   to the  Coast Guard's operating budget,  and the president's   proposed budget   for fiscal year 2004,   will allow us to apply critically needed resources to address our most pressing near-term readiness concerns. Deepwater  –  an integrated 'system of systems' Last June's contract award to Integrated Coast Guard Systems – a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman – opened an exciting chapter in the Coast Guard's recapitalization and transformation program. Deepwater places the Coast Guard on a clearly defined course for future operational excellence and an improved ability to safeguard the nation's maritime security. The Deepwater program entails far more than the progressive modernization and eventual replacement of our aging inventory of cutters, patrol boats, fixed-wing aircraft, and helicopters. Most importantly, it provides an integrated 'system-of-systems' approach to upgrade existing legacy assets through a low-risk transition to full capability with new platforms – including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and highly improved systems for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) and integrated logistics. Bell Helicopter has been awarded a contract for its tilt-rotor vertical-launch unmanned aerial vehicle (VUAV) – the Eagle Eye – to commence preliminary design work for the first phase of the UAV portion of the Deepwater program. The contract calls for Bell to design and build 3 prototype Eagle Eyes for testing by 2005. Also in February, the 110-foot USCGC Matagorda became the first of our 49 Island-class patrol boats to enter the Bollinger shipyard in Lockport, Louisiana, to undergo conversion to a 123-foot vessel with upgraded operational capabilities. The modifications planned include the fitting of a stern ramp to enhance small-boat launch-and-recovery operations. The short-range Prosecutor, our new seven-meter boat, will add to the patrol craft's capabilities. A new deckhouse, new berthing compartments, a new galley, an improved air-conditioning system, and other enhancements will improve habitability and quality of life for the crew when they are underway. [Ed: The converted USCGC Matagorda was delivered in early March 2004.] The Coast Guard's inventory of HH-60J and  HH-65  helicopters  will  also  be modernized with new avionics or other system  improvements  over  the  next five years. New maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters, and  VUAVs  will  improve significantly  our  surface-surveillance capacity and capabilities. Deepwater's total-aviation solution of manned and unmanned platforms, at completion, will deliver 80 percent more flight hours than today's legacy systems. Although originally conceived with 'deepwater' missions in mind, their suitability for a wide range of homeland-security operations is clear. Deepwater's enhancement of USCG operational capacity Deepwater's three new classes of cutters will be designed for higher sustained transit speeds, greater endurance, and longer range. In addition, these cutters will be able to launch and recover our improved small boats, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles. We have arrangements in place to work more closely with the US Navy, which is currently developing its new 'Littoral Combat Ship'. This arrangement is part of the updated National Fleet agreement that I signed last July 2002 with the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Vern Clark. Our new cutters and aerial platforms will permit greater integration and full interoperability among our own assets and those of the US Navy. Our allies and friends overseas also are interested in the possibility of adopting Deepwater assets to meet their own recapitalization requirements. In addition to their improved operational capabilities and ease of maintenance, the modern platforms provided by Deepwater will be safer for our men and women to operate both at sea and in the air – they will also reduce today's worrisome potential for shipboard fires, for single-engine aircraft landings, and for accidents similar to one dangerous incident in which a boat davit failed from metal fatigue after decades of exposure to the corrosive effects of seawater. Deepwater's heightened C4ISR capability In the context of maritime homeland security, perhaps Deepwater's most significant capability enhancement will be in the area of C4ISR. Deepwater's C4ISR system is structured so that new capabilities are designed, developed, integrated, and tested in increments. The Deepwater C4ISR system will play a key role in improving our ability to develop our 'maritime domain awareness'. This will meet the needs, not only of operational decision-makers, but also those of tactical commanders engaged in operations at sea, ashore, and in the air. This 'network-centric' system will ensure that we maintain seamless interoperability with the forces and agencies of the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, as well as a broad spectrum of other federal, state, and local agencies – in short, it will be a true 'force multiplier' in the fullest sense. In addition to its contributions to maritime domain awareness, Deepwater's C4ISR system will allow operational commanders to share a common 'picture', so that they can employ forces more productively, and manage risk wisely. The  requirements  for  Deepwater's  C4ISR  architecture  call  for  it  to  be  fully interoperable with Rescue 21. Full integration of IDS with Rescue 21 will enhance our force-allocation capabilities within US coastal areas. The ability to exchange both distress and security-related data between surface, air, and shore assets will serve as a force multiplier both in the prosecution of SAR (search-and-rescue) emergencies and in our ability to acquire maritime domain awareness, greatly improving the effectiveness of harbor-security operations. Inherent flexibility and utility Although the Integrated Deepwater System's platforms will be designed to incorporate the robust operational capabilities needed to carry out the most challenging open-ocean missions, they also will offer national decision-makers the inherent flexibility and utility common to all naval forces. The Integrated Deepwater System will lead to the Coast Guard's transformation – an ongoing process entailing major intellectual, cultural, and technological changes. It will create joint competencies and partnerships from separate individual-service and agency capabilities. Keeping the Deepwater program on course for successful execution is one of my highest priorities, because it will provide the fastest and most efficient way to improve our nation's maritime security and safety. Deepwater will enable the Coast Guard to maintain a credible presence in key maritime regions to deter potential threats to US sovereignty. It will provide the nation with the best maritime security capabilities possible, and dramatically improve our ability to carry out the numerous military, law-enforcement, search-and-rescue, and other missions assigned to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard's predecessors in the Revenue Marine answered the call more than 200 years ago when the Congress charged them to "... defend the sea coast and repel any hostility."   The Integrated Deepwater System will give the Coast Guard of today and tomorrow the means to continue that proud tradition. *  Our FY 2003 budget includes the largest funding increase in the Coast Guard's history  –  more than $913 million in new operating expenses,   more than $101 million in capital assets, and  (when combined with the FY 2002 supplemental)  the funding needed to pay for 2,000 new billets. The FY 2004 budget proposed by the president will allow us to recapitalize legacy assets and pay for Rescue 21  –  the nation's primary maritime distress system for coastal waters.  It will also allow us to build out our homeland-security assets, as well as sustain our traditional mission levels. **The Special Report by Admiral Collins appeared in the April 2003 issue of Sea Power Magazine, published by the Navy League of the United States.