1
For additional background information on the Deepwater program, see the program’s Internet
page at [http://www.uscg.mil/deepwater/].
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Order Code RS21019
Updated September 6, 2006
Coast Guard Deepwater Program:
Background and Issues for Congress
Ronald O’Rourke
Specialist in National Defense
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
The Coast Guard’s FY2007 budget requests $934.431 million for the Deepwater
acquisition program. The House-reported version of H.R. 5441, the FY2007
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill, recommends $892.64
million for the Deepwater program; the Senate-reported version recommends $993.631
million. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Background
1
Introduction. The Integrated Deepwater Systems (IDS) program, or Deepwater
program for short, is a project to replace and modernize the Coast Guard’s aging fleet of
deepwater-capable ships and aircraft. It is the largest and most complex acquisition effort
in Coast Guard history. The Coast Guard’s FY2007 budget requests $934.431 million for
the program. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the
Administration’s funding requests and overall approach for the program.
Deepwater Missions. The Coast Guard performs a variety of missions in the
deepwater environment (which generally means waters more than 50 miles from shore),
including the following: drug interdiction, alien migrant interdiction, fisheries
enforcement, search and rescue, the International Ice Patrol in northern waters; overseas
maritime intercept (sanctions-enforcement) operations, overseas port security and defense,
overseas peacetime military engagement; general defense operations in conjunction with
the Navy; marine pollution law enforcement, enforcement of lightering (i.e., at-sea cargo-
transfer) zones, and overseas inspection of foreign vessels entering U.S. ports. Deepwater
assets are also used closer to shore for various operations.
Legacy Deepwater-Capable Assets. When the Deepwater program began in
the late 1990s, the Coast Guard’s existing (i.e., “legacy”) assets for performing deepwater
