The U.S. Coast Guard released its final Request for Proposal (RFP) for a complete overhaul and replacement of nearly 100 offshore cutters and more than 200 aircraft. The project, known as the Integrated Deepwater System Program, is aimed at replacing the majority of the services aging fleet of cutters and aircraft and upgrading obsolete computer and sensor technologies.

The Deepwater Programs initial RFP, submitted in March 1998, solicited conceptual and functional designs from teams wishing to compete for final contract award. Three teams, each led by a systems integrator and comprised of shipbuilders, aircraft manufacturers and communications and sensors representatives, have been working with Coast Guard personnel to create an integrated fleet of ships and aircraft designed to operate and communicate seamlessly during a multitude of missions and conditions. The RFP solicits final proposals for the Integrated Deepwater System Program from the three competing industry teams. Those teams are The Boeing Company, Integrated Coast Guard System (comprised of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Ingalls Shipbuilding) and Science Applications International Corporations.

The industry teams will have three months to prepare and submit their final proposals, and Coast Guard officials will award the final Deepwater contract in April 2002.