To satisfy these mission requirements, the Coast Guard needs cutters, boats, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and other assets that can operate together to cover a vast ocean expanse – and to satisfy these requirements in a way that meets the emerging challenges outlined in the service’s strategy documents, these assets must move quickly and reliably, with the ability to collect and share intelligence in real time among themselves and with interagency partners, particularly the U.S. Navy.

Most of the cutters in service today were built a long time ago, for service in a different world. The Coast Guard’s acquisition program of record (POR) calls for replacing 90 of these aging vessels with newer and more capable ships:

• Nine Legend-class national security cutters (NSCs). The service’s largest and most-capable general-purpose cutters, the 418-foot NSCs are replacing the Coast Guard’s Hamilton-class high endurance cutters, which entered service in the 1960s. The NSC has greater endurance and range than the Hamilton-class cutters, the ability to launch and recover small boats from its stern, a flight deck for helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, and aviation support facilities. With a sophisticated suite of surveillance and defense systems, the NSC is designed to be a floating command-and-control headquarters for open-ocean operations. The first NSC, the CGC Bertholf, was commissioned in 2008. Five NSCs are in service today, three more are under construction, and the ninth NSC was contracted at the end of August 2016.
• 58 Sentinel-class fast response cutters (FRCs). The 154-foot FRCs are replacing the service’s Island-class patrol boats. Designed for rapid response in coastal zones, the FRC will provide enhanced capabilities – a stern launching ramp for a rigid-hulled inflatable boat, a remote-operated, gyro-stablized chain gun, and an improved onboard electronics suite. As of November 2016, 19 FRCs are in service, and a total of 38 have been funded by Congress through fiscal year (FY) 2016.
• 25 offshore patrol cutters (OPCs). Zukunft has described it as the service’s most urgent acquisition need, “the backbone of Coast Guard offshore presence”: an affordable replacement for the service’s 29 medium endurance cutters, which are about 25 to 50 years old. Conceived as the “capability bridge” between the NSCs and FRCs, the OPC will be capable of deploying independently or as part of task groups.

The OPC presents a significant budgeting challenge for the service. Congress, in an acknowledgement of the strain under which Coast Guard assets are operating, signed a budget that gave the service more than it requested in its FY 2016 budget, and the Coast Guard’s 2017 proposed budget contains $1.14 billion for acquisition, construction, and improvements. Even so, the service’s current capital investment plan estimates the total cost to acquire the 25 ships to be $10.5 billion – at an average cost of $421 million per ship – which would mean that building one OPC a year would consume more than a quarter of that budget.

The service’s leaders are exploring all available options to bring that figure down, and the Coast Guard is cutting acquisition costs everywhere it can: It’s relying on firm fixed-priced contracting for the OPC, with explicit affordability requirements. When possible, it tries not to re-invent the wheel, and encourages potential contractors to explore already-available designs. The FRC design, for example, is based on a fast patrol vessel produced by the Damen Group, a Dutch shipbuilder. The Coast Guard remains open to the adaptation of established designs for both the OPC and a new heavy icebreaker, and the 2017 budget includes a proposed $147 million for pre-acquisition activities (see “The Coast Guard’s Arctic Surge”).

In a further cost-cutting move, the Coast Guard recently made a midcourse adjustment in its program to replace its older HU-25 Guardian aircraft, a high-speed medium-range spotter retired from service in September 2014. After receiving 18 twin-engine HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft – the last of which was delivered in October 2014 – the service paused further acquisition of the Ocean Sentry and moved forward with an acquisition of 14 C-27J Spartan planes that were made available by the U.S. Air Force. The two aircraft are similar in configuration and will play similar roles in medium-range surveillance.

The Coast Guard’s fleet of C-130H Hercules long-range surveillance aircraft is being phased out, to be gradually replaced by the newer C-130J Super Hercules, which features digital avionics, a 40 percent longer range, a higher maximum speed, and a shorter takeoff distance. The service’s POR calls for 22 Super Hercules, nine of which have been delivered so far.

Of all the buzzwords and acronyms applied to government and military work, one of the most important for the 21st century is “COP”: the common operating picture. To maximize its effectiveness, the Coast Guard works increasingly with federal and international partners both strategically and operationally. JIATF South, a subordinate command of the U.S. Southern Command, is led by a Coast Guard flag officer and includes the four other branches of the military, nine different federal agencies, and 13 international partners with liaisons based in Key West, Florida.

The most significant thing to note about these newer Coast Guard assets is not merely that they are bigger, faster, or more powerful than their predecessors – though in most cases, they are. Their significance lies in their efficiency: their ability, with sophisticated sensing, computing, and communications technology, to extract, analyze, and share intelligence while deployed, making it easier to direct themselves toward known threats. Zukunft has credited these technologies – known generally as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems – with enabling the intelligence-gathering that has led to record maritime drug seizures in each of the past two years.

Of all the buzzwords and acronyms applied to government and military work, one of the most important for the 21st century is “COP”: the common operating picture. To maximize its effectiveness, the Coast Guard works increasingly with federal and international partners both strategically and operationally. JIATF South, a subordinate command of the U.S. Southern Command, is led by a Coast Guard flag officer and includes the four other branches of the military, nine different federal agencies, and 13 international partners with liaisons based in Key West, Florida.