Integrated Deepwater System Program

The Integrated Deepwater System Program (IDS Program or Deepwater) was the 25-year program to replace all or much of the United States Coast Guard's equipment, including aircraft, ships, and logistics and command and control systems. The $24 billion program (which began with a price tag of $17 billion) lost authorization in Fiscal Year 2012 and is officially defunct.

The initial idea was to develop interoperable system which included new cutters and small boats, a new fleet of fixed-wing aircraft, a combination of new and upgraded helicopters, and land- and cutter-based unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). All of these assets will be linked with Command, Control, Communications and Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems. Performance-based logistics is also an aspect of the contract.

The Coast Guard performs many missions in a deepwater environment, which is usually defined as waters more than 50 nautical miles offshore. These missions include drug interdiction, alien migrant interdiction, fisheries enforcement, search and rescue, International Ice Patrol operations, maritime sanctions enforcement, overseas port security and defense, overseas peacetime military engagement, defense operations in conjunction with the US Navy, maritime pollution law enforcement, enforcement of lightering zones, and overseas inspection of foreign vessels entering US ports. During the 1990s, it was determined that the assets and capabilities needed to complete deepwater missions were antiquated and becoming obsolete and included 93 cutters and 207 aircraft. The assets were technologically obsolete and often expensive to operate as well as unsuited for evolving mission requirements.

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