CG budget adds ships, personnel, upgrades

[unhappycamper]

CG budget adds ships, personnel, upgrades
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 4, 2008 15:10:49 EST

New vessels, helicopter fleet upgrades and emergency maintenance for its lesser-known inland fleet are some of the priorities in the Coast Guard’s $9.3 billion fiscal 2009 budget request, service officials said, as well as adding hundreds of new positions for operatives and watch-standers from the field level on up to the service’s acquisitions management department.

The Coast Guard’s request appeared Monday along with the budget request for its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, unveiled by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Reporters were given a preview Friday.

Some of the biggest-ticket items on the Coast Guard’s list include $354 million for its fourth national security cutter; $115 million for three fast response cutters; just over $100 million for upgrades to 30 HH-65 and MH-60 helicopters; and $87 million for two HC-144 Ocean Sentry patrol planes.

The Coast Guard also is asking for $64 million to buy 14 new 44-foot response boats, to phase in as replacements for its 41-foot utility boats that mostly patrol harbors and coastal areas. And the lifesaving service wants $9 million for what it calls “emergency sustainment” for its inland patrol fleet, the 31 boats — some as much as 40 years old — that operate in inland lakes and waterways.

The inland fleet is often the only federal maritime presence for inland law enforcement and search-and-rescue missions. In the coming years the Coast Guard will decide whether to upgrade or replace its inland boats, officials said, a process that could include buying more new boats of an existing variety or ordering an entirely new class of vessels.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/02/coastguard_budgetrequest_080204w/



uhc comment: Of course, the article does not mention the Deepwater program which has spun into a money pit -->

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