The Coast Guard needs to make management and oversight improvements in the acquisition of its rescue communications system, the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said acquisition and the initial implementation of Rescue 21 has resulted in significant cost overruns and schedule delays because of inadequacies in requirements management, project monitoring, risk management, contractor cost and schedule estimation and delivery, and executive-level oversight.
The estimated total acquisition cost for the system has increased from $250 million in 1999 to $710.5 million in 2005, and the timeline for achieving full operating capability has been pushed back from 2006 until 2011, according to GAO-06-623.
It said that while Coast Guard officials agree that improvements need to be made and are taking steps to address the issues, the current cost estimate of $710.5 million is not viable.
Trends in contractor performance point toward additional overruns of around $160 million unless critical changes are made, GAO said.
Further, it said that the Cost Guard’s schedule is uncertain due to on-going contract item renegotiations as well as pending decisions regarding vessel asset tracking functionality.
While USCG plans a baseline review after contract items are renegotiated, a date for completing the review has not been established, GAO said, and it warned that delays could lead to the failure of legacy equipment — from the 1970s — failing and requiring costly repairs or upgrades to address coverage slips.
