NON-STANDARD FIXED WING AVIATION: THE RECIPE FOR ADDRESSING SPECIALIZED MOBILITY SHORTFALLS

Abstract

The unique requirements of Special Operations Forces (SOF) make it necessary to employ specialized tactics and equipment in order to successfully operate in hostile, denied, or sensitive environments. The preponderance of these types of missions are quick reaction demanding low-visibility and greater assumption of risk. America's SOF teams require an additional level of aviation support to execute national level missions. This decade is faced with tighter defense spending and cutbacks to the small aircraft inventory, an increased number of contracts with commercial aviation companies have been the hasty solution in order to maintain readiness and meet operational requirements. If properly balanced and with the right oversight, a mix of contract and military air assets could meet the needs of SOF and the Department of Defense to fill the non-standard aviation shortfalls being experienced globally. The analysis identifies shortfalls in specialized mobility capabilities and logistics and evaluates the utilization of available non-standard aviation aircraft for Special Operations and compares the effectiveness and efficiency between using organic military assets to that of investing in specialized mobility contract aviation. For USSOCOM, and DoD as a whole, to maintain a global presence in austere locations while meeting the specialized mobility needs of SOF, there are three areas identified to fill eliminate shortfalls: Adjust the waiver process for contracting air carriers; improved utilization of the USASOC C-27J aircraft; and modification to the hub and spoke approach that is tailored to SOF. This research paper uses a mixed-methodology of problem/solution framework and evaluation framework. The paper is divided into three main sections: overview of the problem, analysis of the problem, and the recommended solutions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2015
Accession Number
AD1040706

Entities

People

  • Vincent E. Imbro

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Transportation
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Airframes
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Doctrine
  • Employment
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Governments
  • Military Aircraft
  • Military Force Levels
  • Military Science
  • Short Takeoff Aircraft
  • Transport Aircraft
  • United States Transportation Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control