Jane Edwards
The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a request for information on potential contractors that can build new icebreakers intended to perform missions in the Arctic, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.
Sydney Freedberg Jr. writes the service branch issued notional requirements and a notional schedule for the Polar Icebreaker Replacement Program through a special notice published Wednesday on FedBizOpps.
According to the notice, USCG plans to hold an industry day in Washington in March with plans to conduct one-on-one meetings weeks after the industry day.
Meghann Myers also reports on Navy Times that USCG Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told Surface Navy Association Symposium attendees that President Barack Obama has said the U.S. needs to speed up the construction of icebreakers.
“I’m pretty sure I heard an ‘s’ at the end of that,” Zukunft said at the event.
The commandant also noted that the new ship would be a “floating command platform” with a capability to perform safety and environmental response missions, according to Navy Times.
Zukunft said the military branch stated in the industry solicitation that it seeks a new icebreaker that could be in operation in four decades and considers leasing and other options, Andrea Shalal of Reuters reports.
