Coast Guard 'Rescue 21' behind schedule.

The Coast Guard will have to reschedule its initial operating capability for Rescue 21--the planned modernization of its search and rescue systems. The service was to begin testing the new technology in September. A new schedule currently is in the works.

The postponement was attributed

Rescue 21 is a $611 million program to upgrade the Coast Guard's communications systems. The program will replace a wide range of aging equipment, including VHF-FM radios, consoles, remote transceiver sites, as well as the network connecting 270 sites. The equipment would be installed on nearly 700 vessels, and the Coast Guard would purchase approximately 3,000 portable radios.

"In reviewing the Coast Guard's test management practices, we found that the Coast Guard postponed key tests, in part, because prior schedules showed delay, overlap and compression of tests, which increased the risk that all requirements would not be tested. In addition, schedules for key tests and deliverables, including test plans, were still outstanding," according to GAO.

These tests (formal qualification testing, system integration testing and operational testing and evaluation) are incremental checks that the Coast Guard is planning to perform before reaching initial operating capability.

GAO recommended that the Department of Homeland Security direct the commandant of the Coast Guard to "establish a new schedule for critical testing phases and initial operating capability, and ensure that milestones are established for completing test plans..."