Coast Guard Deepwater Fallout: Lawsuit!

"U.S. shipbuilder Bollinger has dragged defense giant Northrop Grumman into court in Louisiana, claiming Northrop owes Bollinger at least $12 million for work performed five years ago on small Coast Guard cutters that was subsequently canceled. Northrop tapped Bollinger to stretch and modernize 49 110-foot patrol boats under the $24-billion Deepwater modernization scheme. But Bollinger finished only eight before the Coast Guard in 2005 discovered hull cracks and other problems on the modernized boats that forced their early retirement. The other 41 boat modifications were canceled.

The 110-foot cutter fiasco was the first sign of an impending meltdown in the Coast Guard over Deepwater. The bad 110s were followed by problems with the design and construction of the flagship National Security Cutters plus cost overruns on other aspects of Deepwater. In 2007 the Coast Guard “fired” Northrop and partner Lockheed Martin from their roles as systems-integrators. Deepwater got an overhaul, and today is struggling to emerge from years of bad management that wasted hundreds of millions of dollars."
War is Boring