Coast Guard asks industry to review plans for new integrated boat navigation system

Dec. 8, 2013
WASHINGTON, 8 Dec. 2013. Shipboard electronics experts in the U.S. Coast Guard plan to develop a new integrated navigation system for Coast Guard boats and cutters called The Standardized Scalable Integrated Navigation System-Two (SINS-2), and are asking industry to review the system's proposed specifications.
WASHINGTON, 8 Dec. 2013.Shipboard electronics experts in the U.S. Coast Guard plan to develop a new integrated navigation system for Coast Guard boats and cutters called The Standardized Scalable Integrated Navigation System-Two (SINS-2), and are asking industry to review the system's proposed specifications.

SINS-2 will allow for scalable integration of all installed electronic navigation equipment and sensors as required per vessel. Scalability notes a wide range of configuration depending on vessel size and mission.

The system will be installed on about 1,800 vessels. It will be the primary navigation system on Coast Guard boats ranging in size from 12-foot harbor boats to 47-foot motor life boats. SINS-2 also will provide backup navigation capability on Coast Guard cutters ranging from 65-foot small harbor tugs to 418-foot national security cutters.

The proposed system will be a standardized suite of commercial off the shelf (COTS) electronic equipment and sensors consisting of a low power radar and chart plotter multi-function display, fluxgate compass, GPS receivers, depth sounder, and marine-grade power supplies. SINS-2 will be installed on all future boat acquisitions and retrofitted onto legacy boats as the original equipment wears out.

SINS-2 also will allow for interfacing with other installed electronics equipment including sensors and communications gear, and will support Coast Guard missions to include port, waterways, and coastal security; search and rescue; drug interdiction; migrant interdiction; living marine resources; other law enforcement; marine safety; marine environmental protection; and defense readiness.

The primary purpose of SINS-2 is to provide standard navigation systems for Coast Guard boats and cutters that are easy to operate and maintain. SINS-2 will allow for additional networked multifunction displays and remote instrument displays at several crew stations.

The SINS-2 system also will include a data recorder to record selected sensor data, and will support two X-band GHz radar options, one for a radome, and other for an open array.

The SINS-2 system must have full functionality without the use of a touch screen viewing in direct sunlight, and compatible with night operations with a dimmable display.

The full draft specification for SINS-2 is available online in .pdf form at https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=37f9d0c996eb85e50e412c0571c539d5.

Companies interested should email responses no longer than 15 pages to the Coast Guard's Heather Hirshman at [email protected] no later than 9 Jan. 2014.

More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/notices/8a58edb13cad24ebc826cd72f7b8cda8.

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