Coast Guard delays cutter over radios

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Faulty radios have delayed by six months the deployment of the first oceangoing Coast Guard cutter, the latest problem in a $25 billion effort to turn the U.S. coastal protection and police force into a potent weapon in the war on terrorism.

Radios on the 420-foot USCGC Bertholf have a checkered past. When the same model was first installed on smaller Coast Guard cutters, guardsmen discovered they were not waterproof.

That proved fairly easy to fix. But a bigger problem that has yet to be resolved involves the wiring, which is not properly shielded so that outsiders — including terrorists — can eavesdrop on Coast Guard communications.

The Bertholf is slated to begin service sometime this summer instead of its planned deployment in February, Coast Guard officials say.

"We"re trying to be proactive," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Laura Williams, who emphasized that the Coast Guard was taking all the time it needed to conduct proper testing.

The Bertholf, built by Northrop Grumman at its Pascagoula, Miss., facility, is larger and potentially more powerful than any previous Coast Guard cutter.

It boasts a 57 mm gun, sophisticated sensors and a hangar for helicopter gunships.

The cutter's size and armaments reflect the Coast Guard's growing responsibilities in the "war on terror," including more overseas patrols.

In 2003, the 50,000-strong Coast Guard was transferred from the Transportation Department to the newly established Homeland Security Department to reflect its expanded responsibilities.

The Bertholf is part of a $25 billion, 20-year "Deepwater" plan, begun in 2002, which has been plagued by technical problems, cost overruns, scandal and congressional skepticism.