Search and Rescue (SAR)
The U.S. Coast Guard is best known worldwide for its Search and Rescue (SAR) expertise, which dates back more than 200 years to the earliest days of the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service. Today, despite the nation's best efforts to prevent maritime accidents, the Coast Guard responds to about 60,000 emergency calls and saves nearly 5,000 lives annually. During Hurricane Katrina, the Coast Guard saved over 33,000 lives in a two week period!
The Coast Guard's SAR response involves multi-mission stations, cutters (ships), aircraft, and boats linked by communications networks. The National SAR Plan divides the U.S. into regions, with the Coast Guard acting as the maritime SAR coordinator. To meet this responsibility, the Coast Guard maintains facilities on the East, West and Gulf coasts; in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico; and on the Great Lakes and inland U.S. waterways.
Current Limitations of NDRS
The NDRS was established more than 30 years ago as a VHF-FM-based radio communication system that has a range of up to 20 nautical miles along most of the U.S. shoreline. While this system has served the Coast Guard well over the years, it consists of out-of-date and non-standard equipment with many limitations. These include:
- No direction finding capability.
- Numerous geographic communication's coverage gaps.
- Limited interoperability with other emergency response services.
- Single-channel radio operation, which prohibits the ability to receive multiple radio calls.
Increasing Future SAR Demands
The Coast Guard's SAR mission is likely to become even more challenging in the years ahead. Trends indicate:
- Dramatic increases in recreational boating, with many more personal watercraft congesting the nation's waterways.
- Increased maritime trade, resulting in unparalleled growth in the size and numbers of ships using inland, coastal, and international waterways.
- The natural consequence of this expanded use of our coastal waterways will result in increased mission demands for enforcing laws and protecting the marine environment.
Homeland Security Demands
Securing the maritime border of the United States is in the Coast Guard's charter as the lead federal agency for maritime homeland security. The Coast Guard has three tenets: Preparedness, Awareness, and Capability to address maritime homeland security challenges. Rescue 21 provides the command, control, and communications that will give the Coast Guard the "Capability" to defend the Nation's coastal waterways. It will improve "Awareness" through its contribution to Maritime Domain Awareness. Rescue 21 is the tool that will keep the Coast Guard "Prepared" and assist the Coast Guard fleet in meeting its coastal mission demands.
Rescue 21 will provide the United States with a 21st century maritime command, control, and communications (C3) system that encompasses the entire United States. By replacing outdated technology with a fully integrated C3 system that improves interoperability, Rescue 21 will protect mariners and help defend the nation's coasts.