SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., 4 July 2011. The U.S. Coast Guard has completed the 25,000th search-and-rescue mission using the Rescue 21 system from General Dynamics C4 Systems in Scottsdale, Ariz. Rescue 21, designed to locate and assist mariners in distress, includes 26 command centers and 179 towers, covering approximately 37,000 miles of coastline. General Dynamics C4 Systems is the prime contractor for the Rescue 21 system.
“The Coast Guard is an integral part of the Department of Homeland Security,” describes Michael O’Hara, program manager for Rescue 21 for General Dynamics C4 Systems. “As new sectors are added to the Rescue 21 system, the Coast Guard is better equipped to perform both lifesaving and homeland-security missions with greater agility and increased efficiency.”
Rescue 21 enables the Coast Guard to perform command, control, and communications tasks along United States inland and coastal zones, including the Great Lakes, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. An integrated system of command centers, towers, and direction-finding technology, helps to detect and locate distress calls. The system can also detect hoax calls, avoiding unnecessary and expensive tasking of rescue personnel and resources.
The U.S. Coast Guard most recently installed a Rescue 21 communications system in the new Yerba Buena Island Interagency Operations Center command post at Sector San Francisco.
