Coast Guard Deepwater Acquisition Program Background and Issues

The term Deepwater refers to a collection of more than a dozen Coast Guard acquisition programs for replacing and modernising the service's ageing fleet of deepwater-capable ships and aircraft. Until April 2007, the Coast Guard pursued these programs as a single, integrated acquisition program that was known as the Integrated Deepwater System program or Deepwater for short. The now-separated Deepwater acquisition programs include plans for, among other things, 91 new cutters, 124 new small boats, and 247 new or modernised aeroplanes, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles. This book explores the background, oversight issues and options for Congress with regard to the Coast Guard Deepwater Acquisition Programs.