Study: Coast Guard plan inadequate
New demands since 9/11 require more equipment, RAND says
From Emily Rust
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard will not be prepared to handle its traditional mission plus the responsibilities that have arisen after the attacks of September 11, 2001, if it follows its current modernization plan, according to a new study.
The Coast Guard, one of the nation's five armed services, hired the RAND Corp. to evaluate whether its 20-year plan to update its surface and air fleets would be adequate to handle future demands.
The study, to be released Monday, concluded that the service needed two-thirds more cutters and a larger number of aircraft than the original plan recommended.
The current plan, known as "Deepwater," was created in the late 1990s, before the al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington.
Since the attacks, the Coast Guard's numerous roles have intensified as the service was shifted from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security.
In particular, the service has been called on to increase patrols of the nation's 95,000 miles of coastline and strengthen security at its 361 ports, according the Coast Guard Web site. (Coast Guard background
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The Deepwater modernization plan is no longer enough, the RAND study concluded.
It called for the Coast Guard to maintain a fleet of 91 cutters and 244 helicopters, fixed-wing patrol and surveillance planes and drones. RAND recommended boosting those numbers to 150 cutters and 291 aircraft.
The study also urged the service to explore new technologies that can leverage the ships and aircraft it has, such as developing stationary offshore platforms that could be used as operating bases.
It also suggested speeding up the timetable for Deepwater, from the current 20-year plan to a 10- or 15-year plan.
The researchers predicted the new force could be in place by 2027.
It would cost twice as much to acquire and a third more to operate and support as the current plan, the study said.
By 2027, researchers estimated, the operating and support costs could be as high as $1.66 billion a year, more than double what Deepwater requires annually.
