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GAO-25-106822 1 (2024-12-19)

handle is hein.gao/gaorgo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Why This Matters Key Takeaways The U.S. views the Arctic region as growing in strategic importance and needing increased U.S. presence. Russia and China are making military and economic investments demonstrating their interest in the area. The 2022 National Strategy for the Arctic Region notes that climate change is amplifying the region's economic importance because the variability in the amount of ice coverage is making it more accessible than ever before. Seasonal ice coverage requires the U.S. to have polar icebreakers to operate in the Arctic to help ensure safe maritime navigation and emergency response. The U.S. Coast Guard-a maritime military service and component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-has identified that it has insufficient capacity to assure U.S. presence and reliable access to the Arctic. To address this operational shortfall, it plans to potentially quadruple its number of polar icebreakers over the next 20 years, going from two to eight or nine. You asked us to examine the status of the Coast Guard's efforts to address its short- and long-term gaps in polar icebreakers. This report discusses, among other questions: the Coast Guard's role and how its current polar icebreakers enable it to operate in the Arctic and Antarctic; how the Coast Guard analyzed its polar icebreaking needs; and the extent to which it has considered options to expand the future fleet. We also identify open questions about the polar fleet expansion that the Coast Guard has yet to address, including questions about costs and affordability. We have previously made recommendations that DHS ensure the design of the Polar Security Cutter program-its current icebreaker acquisition program-is sufficiently mature before the Coast Guard starts construction and to improve schedule oversight. * The Coast Guard is considering multiple efforts to expand its polar icebreaker fleet from the current two to either eight or nine. However, it has yet to determine the mix of medium and heavy polar icebreakers, known as Arctic Security Cutters and Polar Security Cutters, respectively, or the associated costs that are a part of its long-term strategy. * To address near-term gaps, the Coast Guard plans to extend the service life of its two operational polar icebreakers. It also plans to purchase and convert a commercially available polar icebreaker (CAPI), something it has never done before. But it lacks information on the full cost to do so. * We recommend that the Coast Guard develop a detailed cost estimate for the CAPI and that it develop an analysis of the cost and sequencing for the planned polar icebreaker fleet expansion within the context of its larger acquisition portfolio and priorities. DHS did not concur with the first recommendation and did concur with the second. GAO-25-106822 COAST GUARD ACQUISITIONS Page 1

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