After Trump’s promise of 40 ‘big’ icebreakers, Coast Guard says eight or nine will do
Vice Adm. Thomas Allan said he's "excited" the president is talking about a Coast Guard priority and has a theory for where the 40 number came from.
By Lee Ferran
on April 08, 2025 at 11:06 AM
SEA AIR SPACE 2025 — While it’s “exciting” to hear President Donald Trump promise dozens of new, big icebreakers, current assessments show that eight or nine of that size would do for now, a senior Coast Guard officer said this week.
“Whenever your boss is interested in 40 icebreakers, you are very happy, right? I mean, this has been something that we’ve been trying to do for a long time,” Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, the Coast Guard’s acting deputy commandant for operations, said at the Sea Air Space conference Monday in response to a question from Breaking Defense.
“I will tell you that when you look at what the strategic studies have said for the Coast Guard, I kind of go back to that eight or nine [number], right? Eight or nine big, heavy icebreakers — at least three of them in that role,” he said, echoing a fleet size determined in a 2023 analysis.
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/04/after-trumps-promise-of-40-big-icebreakers-coast-guard-says-eight-or-nine-will-do/
