The Coast Guard has been implementing IT systems that effectively support the mission needs of some ships and aircraft and that are meeting overall performance requirements and improving operational capabilities, but budget restrictions have hampered some planned system enhancements needed to support some aircraft and legacy ships, the DHS inspector general has said.
It said revised plans do not fully address how the Coast Guard will meet the critical technology needs of these aircraft and legacy ships, which continue to rely on obsolete technology that is not as good and is costly and difficult to maintain.
Thetechnology upgrade in question is the Coast Guard Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Modernization – C4ISR, project, which has an acquisition life cycle cost of over $1.5 billion through fiscal 2026, and received about $730 million in funding through 2013.
The IG said the Coast Guard has planned effectively for future technology capabilities, but recommended that it implement a plan to provide legacy ships with sufficient system capabilities to carry out their mission while replacement ships are being built, complete an upgrade for aircraft mission systems, as well as define and implement a strategy enabling the Coast Guard to efficiently manage multiple technology systems across affected aircraft and ships.
