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Updated October 19, 2021
Navy TAGOS(X) Ocean Surveillance Shipbuilding Program:
Background and Issues for Congress
Introduction
like hulls (Figure 2). The struts have a narrow cross section
The Navy wants to procure in FY2022 the first of a planned
at the waterline (i.e., they have a small waterplane area).
new class of seven TAGOS(X) ocean surveillance ships.
The SWATH design has certain limitations, but has features
The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget requests $434.4
(including very good stability in high seas) that are useful
million for the procurement of the first TAGOS(X).
for SURTASS operations.
TAGOS Ships in the Navy
Figure 2. USNS Effective (TAGOS-21) in Dry Dock
TAGOS ships (Figure 1 and Figure 2) support Navy
antisubmarine warfare (ASW) operations. As stated in the
Navy’s FY2021 budget submission, TAGOS ships “use the
Surveillance Towed-Array Sensor System (SURTASS) to
gather undersea acoustic data. They also carry electronic
equipment to process and transmit that data via s atellite to
shore stations for evaluation.” Figure 3 shows a simplified
diagram of a TAGOS(X) ship with its SURTASS arrays.
In the designation TAGOS (als o written as T-AGOS), the T
means they are operated by the Military Sealift Command
(MSC); the A means they are auxiliary (i.e., support) ships;
the G means they have a general or miscellaneous mission;
and the OS means the mission is ocean surveillance. In the
program designation TAGOS(X), the X means that the new
TAGOS ship’s precise design has not yet been determined.
Source: U.S. Navy photograph 070913-N-2638R-004 posted at
Figure 1. USNS Impeccable (TAGOS-23)
Wikimedia Commons, accessed May 25, 2021.
Figure 3. TAGOS(X) Ship with SURTASS Arrays
Source: U.S. Navy photograph accompanying “Ocean Surveil ance
Source: Detail from slide 13, entitled “TAGOS(X) Concept of
Ships,” Military Sealift Command, accessed May 25, 2021.
Operations (CONOPS),” in Industry Day briefing for TAGOS(X)
program, June 26, 2019, accessed May 26, 2021, at GovTribe.com.
Current TAGOS Ships
The Navy’s five aging TAGOS ships include four
TAGOS(X) Program
Victorious (TAGOS-19) class ships (TAGOS 19 through
22) that entered service in 1991-1993, and one Impeccable
Quantity, Schedule, and Design
(TAGOS-23) class ship that entered service in 2000. As of
The Navy wants to build seven TAGOS(X) ships as
the end of FY2020, all five were homeported at Yokohama,
replacements for its five in-service TAGOS ships. The
Japan. The ships use a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull
Navy’s FY2021 budget submission called for procuring the
(SWATH) design, in which the ship’s upper part sits on two
first four TAGOS(X)s at a rate of one per year in FY2022-
struts that extend down to a pair of submerged, submarine-
FY2025. The Navy’s notional design for the TAGOS(X)
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Navy TAGOS(X) Ocean Surveil ance Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress
(Figure 4) employs a SWATH design that would be larger
and Total Ship Integration) within Program Element (PE)
and faster than the in-service TAGOS ships (see Table 1).
0204313N (Ship-Towed Array Surveillance Systems ),
which is line 211 in the Navy’s FY2022 research and
Figure 4. Notional Navy Design for TAGOS(X)
development account.
Acquisition Strategy
The Navy wants to use a single shipbuilder to build all
seven TAGOS(X)s. The Navy intends to competitively
award in FY2022 a firm fixed-price contract for the detailed
design and construction (DD&C) of the lead ship, with
options for building up to six additional ships. In January
2020, the Navy released a request for proposals (RFP) for
contracts to perform initial industry studies for the program.
On July 2, 2020, the Navy awarded four contracts for these
studies to BMT Designers and Planners of Arlington, VA
(with a contract value $2.37 million); Bollinger Shipyards
Source: Artist’s rendering accompanying press released entitled
of Lockport, LA ($2.78 million); Thoma-Sea Marine
“Halter Marine Secures Contract for Industrial Studies for T-AGOS
Constructors of Houma, LA ($2.26 million); and VT Halter
Program,” Halter Marine, July 20, 2020.
Marine of Pascagoula, MS ($2.17 million). The Navy will
use the industry studies to inform its understanding of
Table 1. TAGOS Ship Designs
TAGOS(X) design-cost tradeoffs in support of the RFP that
the Navy will release for the DD&C contract.
TAGOS-
TAGOS-
TAGOS(X)
19
23
(notional)
Issues for Congress
Potential issues for Congress for the TAGOS(X) program
Length
235 feet
281 feet
356 feet
include the following:
Maximum speed
10 knots
12 knots
20 knots
whether the Navy has accurately identified the required
Displacement
3,384 tons
5,330 tons
8,500 tons
number and capabilities (and resulting size and cost) of
Accommodations
~48
54
68
TAGOS(X) ships needed to perform future missions;
Sources: “Ocean Surveil ance Ships - T-AGOS,” U.S. Navy, and
whether the Navy’s estimated procurement cost for
“Ocean Surveil ance Ships,” Military Sealift Command, accessed May
TAGOS(X)s is accurate; and
26, 2021, and slide 22, entitled “T-AGOS Class Comparison,” slide
the impact of the TAGOS(X) program on U.S. shipyards
22 from Industry Day briefing for TAGOS(X) program, June 26, 2019,
and associated supplier firms.
accessed May 26, 2021, at GovTribe.com.
FY2022 Procurement Funding
The Navy’s desire to replace the five in-service TAGOS
The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget requests $434.4
ships with seven larger and faster TAGOS(X)s can be
million for the procurement of the first TAGOS(X). The
viewed as a response by the Navy to the submarine
House and Senate Armed Services Committees’ reports on
modernization efforts of countries such as China and
the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.
Russia. For more on China’s submarine modernization
4350/S. 2792)—H.Rept. 117-118 of September 10, 2021,
effort, see CRS Report RL33153, China Naval
and S.Rept. 117-39 of September 22 [legislative day,
Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—
September 21], 2021, respectively—both recommend
Back ground and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
approving this request, as do the House Appropriations
Committee’s report (
Procurement Cost
H.Rept. 117-88 of July 15, 2021) and
the Senate Appropriations Committee’s explanatory report
The Navy estimates that TAGOS(X) ships will cost about
(released on October 18, 2021) on the FY2022 DOD
$400 million each to procure. The Navy’s FY2021 budget
Appropriations Act (H.R. 4432/ S. XXXX). Section 8104 of
projected procurement funding for the TAGOS(X) program
H.R. 4432 as reported by the House Appropriations
for FY2022-FY2025 in the Navy’s shipbuilding account
Committee establishes U.S. content requirements for three
(the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy, or SCN,
shipbuilding programs, including the TAGOS(X) program.
appropriation account) in annual amounts of $437.1
million, $427.9 million, $418.7 million, and $399.4 million.
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
Research and Development Funding
IF11838
Research and development work on the TAGOS(X)
program is funded through Project 3261 (TAGOS Design
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Navy TAGOS(X) Ocean Surveil ance Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress
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