The advanced command, control and direction-finding comms system for the US Coast Guard is known as Rescue 21, and now General Dynamics Mission Systems has been awarded a $125.6 million follow-on contract to provide program management, system support and maintenance and sustainment engineering support for the US Coast Guard Command, Control, and Communications Engineering Center.
The system was created to better locate mariners in distress, save lives and property at sea and on navigable rivers. By harnessing state-of-the-market technology, the General Dynamics-built Rescue 21 system enables the Coast Guard to execute its search and rescue (SAR) activities with far greater agility and efficiency. Rescue 21 is operational along the entire Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts of the continental United States as well as along the shores of the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Guam and Mariana Islands.
Mission Systems will continue to provide customer care, field support and engineering escalation resources as well as support for information assurance, spare parts and obsolescence management, and pursue life-cycle cost savings. The 36-month award consists of a base period with three option periods from September 2016 through August 2019.
According to Chris Marzilli, the President of General Dynamics Mission Systems, the Coast Guard has supported more than 90,000 SAR cases using Rescue 21 since the system's implementation—this system saves lives.
General Dynamics Mission Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
www.uscg.mil/acquisition/rescue21/