Rep. Duncan Hunter warned the Coast Guard on Wednesday that its plan to buy a new ice breaker will still leave the U.S. far behind its competitors.
“The Coast Guard’s current plan of action has a high likelihood of leaving our country without this important capability for at least several years,” the California Republican wrote. “Even at the present time, our nation is one engine casualty away from being unable to fulfill our responsibilities and project U.S. power.”
The U.S. currently has two ice breakers: the medium-duty Healy, which is primarily used as a research vessel, and the heavy-duty Polar Star, which was refurbished in 2013 and will likely be retired again by 2023. Most estimates agree that the U.S. Coast Guard needs at least three medium ice breakers and three heavy ice breakers.
Russia, by comparison, has 20-30 ships with ice-breaking capability.
The president’s fiscal 2017 budget request asked for $150 million in acquisition funding to cover early planning and design of a new ice breaker to make good on his promise to begin procurement by 2020.
But even if procurement begins on time in 2020, the ship wouldn’t enter the fleet until 2024 or 2025, leaving a potential years-long gap where the U.S. does not have a heavy ice breaker.
Hunter asked Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft to answer a series of questions, including an expected timeline for procurement of the heavy ice breaker and if the service is considering using an existing ship design to speed up acquisition.
Hunter also asked if the service was considering further extending the life of the Polar Star through another refurbishment and how much that would cost.
“If not, how does the Coast Guard plan to address the two-five year capability gap? What is the Coast Guard’s plan to replace Polar Star’s capability in the event it suffers a catastrophic mechanical failure before the end of its expected service life?” he wrote.
Hunter is withholding his support for ice-breaker funding in fiscal 2017 until he receives an answer.
