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Updated March 29, 2022
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 requested $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)
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Navy TAGOS(X) Ocean Surveillance Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress
(Figure 4) employs a SWATH design that would be larger
Acquisition Strategy
and faster than the in-service TAGOS ships (see Table 1).
The Navy wants to use a single shipbuilder to build all
seven TAGOS(X)s. The Navy intends to competitively
Figure 4. Notional Navy Design for TAGOS(X)
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);
Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors of Houma, LA ($2.26
million); and VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, MS ($2.17
million).
Source: Artist’s rendering accompanying press released entitled
“Halter Marine Secures Contract for Industrial Studies for T-AGOS
The Navy used the industry studies to inform its
Program,” Halter Marine, July 20, 2020.
understanding of TAGOS(X) design-cost tradeoffs in
support of the RFP for the DD&C contract. The Navy
Table 1. TAGOS Ship Designs
posted the RFP for the DD&C contract on November 19,
2021, and amended it on December 21, 2021. Responses to
TAGOS-
TAGOS-
TAGOS(X)
the RFP are due by April 19, 2022.
19
23
(notional)
Issues for Congress
Length
235 feet
281 feet
356 feet
Potential issues for Congress for the TAGOS(X) program
Maximum speed
10 knots
12 knots
20 knots
include the following:
Displacement
3,384 tons
5,330 tons
8,500 tons
whether the Navy has accurately identified the required
Accommodations
~48
54
68
number and capabilities (and resulting size and cost) of
TAGOS(X) ships needed to perform future missions;
Sources: “Ocean Surveil ance Ships - T-AGOS,” U.S. Navy, and
“Ocean Surveil ance Ships,” Military Sealift Command, accessed May
whether the Navy’s estimated procurement cost for
26, 2021, and slide 22, entitled “T-AGOS Class Comparison,” slide
TAGOS(X)s is accurate; and
22 from Industry Day briefing for TAGOS(X) program, June 26, 2019,
the impact of the TAGOS(X) program on U.S. shipyards
accessed May 26, 2021, at GovTribe.com.
and associated supplier firms.
The Navy’s desire to replace the five in-service TAGOS
FY2022 Procurement Funding
ships with seven larger and faster TAGOS(X)s can be
The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget requested $434.4
viewed as a response by the Navy to the submarine
million for the procurement of the first TAGOS(X). The
modernization efforts of countries such as China and
FY2022 DOD Appropriations Act (Division C of H.R.
Russia. For more on China’s submarine modernization
2471/P.L. 117-103 of March 15, 2022), the Consolidated
effort, see CRS Report RL33153, China Naval
Appropriations Act, 2022, approves this request. Section
Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—
8104 of the act states (emphasis added): “None of the funds
Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
provided in this Act for requirements development,
performance specification development, concept design and
Procurement Cost
development, ship configuration development, systems
The Navy estimates that TAGOS(X) ships will cost about
engineering, naval architecture, marine engineering,
$400 million each to procure. The Navy’s FY2021 budget
operations research analysis, industry studies, preliminary
projected procurement funding for the TAGOS(X) program
design, development of the Detailed Design and
for FY2022-FY2025 in the Navy’s shipbuilding account
Construction Request for Proposals solicitation package, or
(the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy, or SCN,
related activities for the T–ARC(X) Cable Laying and
appropriation account) in annual amounts of $437.1
Repair Ship or the T–AGOS(X) Oceanographic
million, $427.9 million, $418.7 million, and $399.4 million.
Surveillance Ship may be used to award a new contract for
such activities unless these contracts include specifications
Research and Development Funding
that all auxiliary equipment, including pumps and
Research and development work on the TAGOS(X)
propulsion shafts, are manufactured in the United States.”
program is funded through Project 3261 (TAGOS Design
and Total Ship Integration) within Program Element (PE)
0204313N (Ship-Towed Array Surveillance Systems),
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
which is line 211 in the Navy’s FY2022 research and
IF11838
development account.
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Navy TAGOS(X) Ocean Surveillance Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress
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