U.S. Coast Guard contractor Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) issued a Broad Industry Announcement Oct. 12 seeking improved capabilities for satellite communications in support of the Coast Guard’s Deepwater modernization program.

The Coast Guard is looking to either augment or replace its Inmarsat-B satellite technology. Current terminals are capable of supporting data rates of 128 kilobits per second. ICGS is seeking more cost-efficient and faster technology that supports data rates greater than 256 Kbps and offers growth capacity to 1 megabit per second within five years. The new capabilities will need to provide global and spot beam coverage of the Earth’s surface, primarily focused on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans regions and Alaska.

Having a global maritime communications capability will allow the Coast Guard to develop maritime domain awareness of an area beyond a particular platform’s sensors. Improved C4ISR is one of the key components of the Deepwater program, which also involves the development of new ships and aircraft and upgrades to existing platforms.

Responses to the announcement will be reviewed to identify potential suppliers for an invitation to the Innovation & Industry Days 2005 conference Nov. 15 and 16 in Miami. Interested satellite communications suppliers should respond through the ICGS Web site by Oct. 21 at http://www.teamdeepwater.com.

ICGS is a joint venture comprised of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.