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Summary

The term Deepwater refers to a collection of more than a dozen Coast Guard acquisition programs for replacing and modernizing the service's aging fleet of deepwater-capable ships and aircraft. Until April 2007, the Coast Guard pursued these programs as a single, integrated acquisition program that was known as the Integrated Deepwater System (IDS) program or Deepwater program for short. The now-separated Deepwater acquisition programs include plans for, among other things, 91 new cutters, 124 new small boats, and 247 new or modernized airplanes, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The year 2007 was a watershed year for Deepwater acquisition. The management and execution of what was then the single, integrated Deepwater program was strongly criticized by various observers. House and Senate committees held several oversight hearings on the program. Bills were introduced to restructure or reform the program in various ways. Coast Guard and industry officials acknowledged certain problems in the program's management and execution and defended the program's management and execution in other respects. The Coast Guard announced a number of reform actions that significantly altered the service's approach to Deepwater acquisition (and to Coast Guard acquisition in general). The Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided new assessments of Deepwater acquisition programs in a July 2009 report and April 2009 testimony. The Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), requested $1,051.5 million in FY2010 acquisition funding for Deepwater programs, including $305.5 million for aircraft, $591.4 million for surface ships and boats, and $154.6 million for other items. The conference report (H.Rept. 111-298 of October 13, 2009) on the FY2010 DHS appropriations bill (H.R. 2892) provides $1,154.3 million in Acquisition, Construction, and Improvements (AC&I) funding for Deepwater acquisition programs. The conference report includes report language discussing several Deepwater acquisition programs. Other bills relating to Deepwater acquisition programs include the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 3619), the Coast Guard Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 1665), and the Coast Guard Authorization Act for FY2010 and FY2011 (S. 1194).

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