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U.S. Coast Guard Stresses New WMD Protections in Explaining Revisions to Modernization Plan By Joe Fiorill WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard’s commandant today defended recent changes to the service’s modernization plan, arguing it needed to encompass new measures, including the introduction of more WMD defenses (see GSN, July 31, 2002). A revised implementation plan submitted to Congress in March is appropriate to the Coast Guard’s post-Sept. 11 mission because it emphasizes “enhanced capabilities” such as improved chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protections on the service’s vessels, Adm. Thomas Collins told a Senate Commerce Committee subcommittee. Pressed by Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee Chairwoman Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) on why the service now says it may need fewer new vessels than envisioned under the Deepwater modernization plan developed in the late 1990s, Collins spoke of a need to strike the right balance between investments in new systems and in “legacy” equipment. “It’s critical to maintain the right level of operational capability now,” Collins said. The Coast Guard says the revised plan is needed because existing vessels are deteriorating faster than expected — necessitating increased spending on maintenance — and because of a post-Sept. 11 need to focus on improved capabilities, rather than numbers, in new acquisitions. Deepwater was previously expected to cost $17 billion over 20 years and to involve purchase of as many as 91 cutters, 83 unmanned aerial vehicles and 35 maritime patrol aircraft. The revised plan envisions spending up to $24 billion over a 20- to 25-year period and buying as few as 74 cutters, a maximum of 49 unmanned aerial vehicles and a maximum of 20 maritime patrol aircraft. In explaining the cuts in planned acquisitions, Coast Guard officials have stressed a focus on new capabilities such as a better command and control network, improved antiterrorism protections and new detection and defense systems against weapons of mass destruction. Snowe today said the revised plan does not meet today’s needs. She cited studies indicating the service needs higher numbers of aircraft and sea vessels and called for speeding acquisitions of new equipment. “We’re talking about threats that have become a reality in this new threat environment, this new normalcy,” Snowe said. “The Coast Guard should no longer have to say, ‘We can do more with less.’” The fiscal 2006 Coast Guard budget proposal contains $966 million for Deepwater, but congressional panels so far have sought to cut that figure amid concerns about the revised implementation plan. The appropriations bill approved last month by the House of Representatives, for example, would cut $466 million from the Deepwater budget. Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) placed the responsibility for Deepwater’s success with Congress. He called for restoring the funds requested by the administration.
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