Defense Daily Share: Icebreaker Needs. The U.S. Coast Guard needs more polar icebreakers and should evaluate ice strengthening for some of its high-endurance National Security Cutters and forthcoming medium-endurance Offshore Patrol Cutters, says a new analysis by Rand Corp. analysts. Given the rapidly changing nature of polar conditions, the likelihood that new icebreakers will be operating for decades, increasingly diverse mission sets, and unknown future requirements related to military competition, environmental protection, search and rescue, fishery enforcement, and other potential missions, new icebreakers will need to be designed with multi-mission capabilities in mind, the report says. Private Equity Deal. The private equity firm J.F. Lehman and Company has acquired CodeMettle, a provider of custom software development and proprietary software solutions for the management of communications networks for defense and commercial applications. Terms of the deal, which includes an investment by Atlanta-based CodeMettle’s founders and management, were not disclosed. “CodeMettle is an excellent fit with our investment strategy given their unique, proprietary software solutions that address growing demand for software-enabled, cross-network command-and-control capabilities within the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies,” says Alex Harman, a partner with J.F. Lehman. Mensura Capital served as CodeMettle’s financial advisor on the deal.