Voted Off the Island: The USCG’s Deepwater FRC Program
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DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. On Sept 16/05, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman joint venture Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) completed the preliminary design review for the 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRC). “The FRC is being designed to provide the Coast Guard with a state-of-the-art patrol craft that is capable of conducting simultaneous missions,” said ICGS Deepwater’s FRC program manager Mike Duthu.
That success has been followed by delays and failures, on multiple fronts. More than 2 years after the Coast Guard asked ICGS to accelerate the Fast Response Cutter (FRC) program timeline by more than 10 years, in order to hasten replacement of their rapidly deteriorating Island Class patrol vessels, the Coast Guard is still waiting for replacements of any type to arrive. The USCG’s 30-year old patrol boats soldier on, less the 8 “upgraded” Island Class ships whose hull cracking has now made them unfit for service. Another 41 Island Class vessels still ply US and international waters.
The Island Class’ replacement program fared little better. In February 2006, the Coast Guard’s Deepwater system-of-systems Program ‘temporarily’ suspended design work on the FRC-A program due to technical risk. That suspension remains in place, and it soon became clear that Congress was unwilling to fund further FRC design work. FRC-A has effectively been canceled, in favor of an off-the-shelf buy. On March 14/07, the Coast Guard took the next step. ICGS’ lost responsibility for the Deepwater Fast Response Cutter-B off-the-shelf acquisition as well, and the FRC project was reassigned to the Coast Guard’s new Acquisition Directorate.
What happened? What will happen next? DID reviews, from the programs, to the outcomes and controversies, to the fate of the Island Class and FRC programs. The latest news is an initial contract for the Coast Guard’s off-the-shelf FRC-B cutter, which could become a $1.5 billion buy. Naturally, there was a bid protest, but the US GAO denied it…
- Behind the Programs: The Modernization Imperative
- Appendix A: Down on the Islands – The Suspended Modernization
- Appenix B: FRC-A’s Not-So Fast Response: The Catch With Composite Cutters
- March 2007: What Next?
- FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class [NEW]
- Program Updates & Contracts [updated]
- Additional Readings – Background
- Additional Readings – News, Official Reports & Statements
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