link to page 1 link to page 1 link to page 1 link to page 1 
Updated December 22, 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 satellite to
shore stations for evaluation.” Figure 3 shows a simplified
diagram of a TAGOS(X) ship with its SURTASS arrays.
In the designation TAGOS (also 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)
https://crsreports.congress.gov
link to page 2 link to page 2 
Navy TAGOS(X) Ocean Surveillance Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress
(Figure 4) employs a SWATH design that would be larger
which is line 211 in the Navy’s FY2022 research and
and faster than the in-service TAGOS ships (see Table 1).
development account.
Figure 4. Notional Navy Design for TAGOS(X)
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 of Lockport, LA ($2.78 million);
Source: Artist’s rendering accompanying press released entitled
Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors of Houma, LA ($2.26
“Halter Marine Secures Contract for Industrial Studies for T-AGOS
million); and VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, MS ($2.17
Program,” Halter Marine, July 20, 2020.
million).
Table 1. TAGOS Ship Designs
The Navy used the industry studies to inform its
understanding of TAGOS(X) design-cost tradeoffs in
TAGOS-
TAGOS-
TAGOS(X)
support of the RFP for the DD&C contract. The Navy
19
23
(notional)
posted the RFP for the DD&C contract on November 19,
2021, and amended it on December 21, 2021. Responses to
Length
235 feet
281 feet
356 feet
the RFP are due by April 19, 2022.
Maximum speed
10 knots
12 knots
20 knots
Issues for Congress
Displacement
3,384 tons
5,330 tons
8,500 tons
Potential issues for Congress for the TAGOS(X) program
Accommodations
~48
54
68
include the following:
Sources: “Ocean Surveil ance Ships - T-AGOS,” U.S. Navy, and
whether the Navy has accurately identified the required
“Ocean Surveil ance Ships,” Military Sealift Command, accessed May
number and capabilities (and resulting size and cost) of
26, 2021, and slide 22, entitled “T-AGOS Class Comparison,” slide
TAGOS(X) ships needed to perform future missions;
22 from Industry Day briefing for TAGOS(X) program, June 26, 2019,
accessed May 26, 2021, at GovTribe.com.
whether the Navy’s estimated procurement cost for
TAGOS(X)s is accurate; and
The Navy’s desire to replace the five in-service TAGOS
the impact of the TAGOS(X) program on U.S. shipyards
ships with seven larger and faster TAGOS(X)s can be
and associated supplier firms.
viewed as a response by the Navy to the submarine
modernization efforts of countries such as China and
FY2022 Procurement Funding
Russia. For more on China’s submarine modernization
The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget requests $434.4
effort, see CRS Report RL33153, China Naval
million for the procurement of the first TAGOS(X). The
Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—
joint explanatory statement for the HASC-SASC-negotiated
Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
proposal for the FY2022 National Defense Authorization
Act (S. 1605) that was released on December 7, 2021,
Procurement Cost
recommends approving this request, as do the House
The Navy estimates that TAGOS(X) ships will cost about
Appropriations Committee’s report (H.Rept. 117-88 of July
$400 million each to procure. The Navy’s FY2021 budget
15, 2021) and the Senate Appropriations Committee’s
projected procurement funding for the TAGOS(X) program
explanatory report (released on October 18, 2021) on the
for FY2022-FY2025 in the Navy’s shipbuilding account
FY2022 DOD Appropriations Act (H.R. 4432/ S. XXXX).
(the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy, or SCN,
Section 8104 of H.R. 4432 as reported by the House
appropriation account) in annual amounts of $437.1
Appropriations Committee establishes U.S. content
million, $427.9 million, $418.7 million, and $399.4 million.
requirements for three shipbuilding programs, including the
TAGOS(X) program.
Research and Development Funding
Research and development work on the TAGOS(X)
program is funded through Project 3261 (TAGOS Design
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
and Total Ship Integration) within Program Element (PE)
IF11838
0204313N (Ship-Towed Array Surveillance Systems),
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Navy TAGOS(X) Ocean Surveillance Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11838 · VERSION 10 · UPDATED