U.S. COAST GUARD PLACES RESCUE 21 SYSTEM INTO SERVICE NEW COMMUNICATION SYSTEM BRINGS 21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGY TO SEARCH AND RESCUE, BOOSTS COAST GUARD’S MARITIME HOMELAND SECURITY CAPABILITIES WASHINGTON – The United States Coast Guard announces a significant milestone in its critical life saving and homeland security missions by officially accepting Rescue 21 at a ceremony at Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The ceremony will dedicate the system for Atlantic City, and Eastern Shore, Va. Keynote speakers include the Honorable Frank LoBiondo, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Adm. Thomas H. Collins, Commandant of the Coast Guard. Jerry DeMuro, Executive Vice President of General Dynamics’ Information Systems & Technology Group will also be speaking. Rescue 21 is a search and rescue and command and control system, leveraging 21st century technology to boost search and rescue capability and better protect the nation’s coastal waterways and ports. The system improves the way the Coast Guard locates and assists distressed boaters, enabling interoperability with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and with first responders. The Rescue 21 system has been thoroughly tested in both Atlantic City and Eastern Shore, with full nationwide system rollout to 44 additional regions slated for completion in 2011. Integrating state-of-the-art digital technology with expanding mission needs allows Rescue 21 to drastically improve response time and reliability by providing: increased geographic coverage along coastal areas, navigable rivers and waterways improved interoperability with other emergency agencies direction-finding capability to pinpoint location of mariners in distress recorded communications with instant playback and enhanced audio functions restoration of emergency communications following disasters, such as hurricanes Rescue 21 technology has already proven itself during the recent deployment of one of its components, the Disaster Recovery System in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A portable antenna tower continues to sustain vital communications with mariners. Currently entering its full rate production phase, Rescue 21 will become the Coast Guard’s command and control system along 95,000 miles of coastline in the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico, including navigable rivers and lakes. “Rescue 21 virtually transforms how the Coast Guard conducts search and rescue missions, using leading edge technology,” said Capt. Abel, Project Manager for Rescue 21. “The Coast Guard’s motto, Semper Paratus, or “always ready” makes a compelling case for celebrating the dedication of this system in Atlantic City and Eastern Shore. As the system is rolled out across the nation, Rescue 21 will provide technological enhancements for our Coast Guard men and women who stand ready to respond to a variety of distress calls,” he said. Echoing his sentiments is Ron Taylor, Vice President and General Manager at General Dynamics C4 Systems, the prime contractor for the project. “Our goal is to ensure the Coast Guard succeeds in its mission as it takes this quantum leap forward from its legacy system to bring search and rescue into the 21st century,” Taylor said. “The Rescue 21 system has gone through rigorous testing over the past year, both in the lab and in the field and is ready to save lives.” How it works When a vessel sends a radio distress signal, the Rescue 21 system allows it to be picked up by onshore transmission towers that include direction finding equipment to better locate the call. The information is relayed via a data network to a Coast Guard Command Center, which then assigns vessels and aircraft to respond. The command center also relays information to federal, local, state, and military officials as needed, allowing multiple agencies to share a common operational picture of an incident at sea. An additional feature, Digital Selective Calling quickly provides the vessel’s name, exact location, and other vital information when used in conjunction with an integrated GPS receiver and properly registered Maritime Mobile Service Identity number. Rescue 21, a $710 million acquisition project, will replace the Coast Guard’s aging National Distress and Response System built during the 1970s. U.S. COAST GUARD PLACES RESCUE 21 SYSTEM INTO SERVICE NEW COMMUNICATION SYSTEM BRINGS 21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGY TO SEARCH AND RESCUE, BOOSTS COAST GUARD’S MARITIME HOMELAND SECURITY CAPABILITIES WASHINGTON – The United States Coast Guard announces a significant milestone in its critical life saving and homeland security missions by officially accepting Rescue 21 at a ceremony at Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The ceremony will dedicate the system for Atlantic City, and Eastern Shore, Va. Keynote speakers include the Honorable Frank LoBiondo, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Adm. Thomas H. Collins, Commandant of the Coast Guard. Jerry DeMuro, Executive Vice President of General Dynamics’ Information Systems & Technology Group will also be speaking. Rescue 21 is a search and rescue and command and control system, leveraging 21st century technology to boost search and rescue capability and better protect the nation’s coastal waterways and ports. The system improves the way the Coast Guard locates and assists distressed boaters, enabling interoperability with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and with first responders. The Rescue 21 system has been thoroughly tested in both Atlantic City and Eastern Shore, with full nationwide system rollout to 44 additional regions slated for completion in 2011. Integrating state-of-the-art digital technology with expanding mission needs allows Rescue 21 to drastically improve response time and reliability by providing: increased geographic coverage along coastal areas, navigable rivers and waterways improved interoperability with other emergency agencies direction-finding capability to pinpoint location of mariners in distress recorded communications with instant playback and enhanced audio functions restoration of emergency communications following disasters, such as hurricanes Rescue 21 technology has already proven itself during the recent deployment of one of its components, the Disaster Recovery System in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A portable antenna tower continues to sustain vital communications with mariners. Currently entering its full rate production phase, Rescue 21 will become the Coast Guard’s command and control system along 95,000 miles of coastline in the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico, including navigable rivers and lakes. “Rescue 21 virtually transforms how the Coast Guard conducts search and rescue missions, using leading edge technology,” said Capt. Abel, Project Manager for Rescue 21. “The Coast Guard’s motto, Semper Paratus, or “always ready” makes a compelling case for celebrating the dedication of this system in Atlantic City and Eastern Shore. As the system is rolled out across the nation, Rescue 21 will provide technological enhancements for our Coast Guard men and women who stand ready to respond to a variety of distress calls,” he said. Echoing his sentiments is Ron Taylor, Vice President and General Manager at General Dynamics C4 Systems, the prime contractor for the project. “Our goal is to ensure the Coast Guard succeeds in its mission as it takes this quantum leap forward from its legacy system to bring search and rescue into the 21st century,” Taylor said. “The Rescue 21 system has gone through rigorous testing over the past year, both in the lab and in the field and is ready to save lives.” How it works When a vessel sends a radio distress signal, the Rescue 21 system allows it to be picked up by onshore transmission towers that include direction finding equipment to better locate the call. The information is relayed via a data network to a Coast Guard Command Center, which then assigns vessels and aircraft to respond. The command center also relays information to federal, local, state, and military officials as needed, allowing multiple agencies to share a common operational picture of an incident at sea. An additional feature, Digital Selective Calling quickly provides the vessel’s name, exact location, and other vital information when used in conjunction with an integrated GPS receiver and properly registered Maritime Mobile Service Identity number. Rescue 21, a $710 million acquisition project, will replace the Coast Guard’s aging National Distress and Response System built during the 1970s.
