LISA NIPP
so I think they’re fully informed on our requirements
and they understand what the need is.
The discussion to date had some language potentially related to what they perceived as [a possible] delay
in some of the work that needed to be done as far as
design goes. We’ve had further discussions with them.
Hopefully, we’ve been able to answer all the questions
they had at this point.
Is there any projection of how much money
you expect to spend in 2009 on gas and oil if
prices continue to increase?
TAYLOR: I would say, potentially — again, it depends
on what that price is — we may see somewhere
upwards of $100 million shortfall if the prices stay
exceptionally high.
What is the most logical time frame for the
Coast Guard to consider purchasing unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs)? Is the goal to have one
and be able to get it onto Bertholf in 2010,
when the cutter is fully accepted into the fleet?
TAYLOR: When it comes to UAVs in general, we have to
make some very prudent decisions going forward. We’re
working very closely with Customs and Border
Protection and their unmanned aerial systems (UAS)
program. We think there’s an appropriate place in our
portfolio for a land-based UAS to fill part of the maritime domain awareness piece that we have. We’re also
following very closely what the Navy is doing with its
UAS program. That might provide a solution to a cutter-based UAS.
Our Research and Development Center is currently
doing a study that focuses on what we would need to
meet the requirements of our cutters, to meet the persistent surveillance requirements that we have to optimize in the systems. We need to bring all those pieces
together to answer: What’s the right way ahead and
exactly when do we pursue that on budget?
Studies are being done now in the Arctic to
see how the Coast Guard should proceed in
that region. Can the Coast Guard afford to
have another icebreaker built in the same fiscal year as a Fast Response Cutter or NSC?
TAYLOR: The first place you have to take that question
is: What’s the policy requirement? What do we need to
meet the national need? And it’s truly a national need
