Logistical Analysis of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Operating Independently in the Pacific
Abstract
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will be a small combatant designed to address many of the challenges facing the Navy in the 2002 Defense Planning Guidance (DPG). It will rely on newly developing mission modular technology that will allow the core component of LCS, the seaframe, to change out warfare mission packages to adapt it for different warfighting scenarios. Unlike the current combatants of the Navy, LCS will be a single-mission focused ship that will rely on still developing technology to conduct operations in one of three main areas: Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW), Mine Warfare (MIW), and Surface Warfare (SUW). Through models developed in Microsoft Excel, this thesis evaluates how speed and different fuel reserve levels impact LCS fuel consumption and endurance of the two approved versions of LCS (one by Lockheed Martin and the other by General Dynamics), analyzes the implications of these findings and other possible mission limiting factors on LCS logistics, and analyzes how the current Combat Logistics Force (CLF) force structure in the Pacific will affect the overall mission capability of the LCS. The thesis examines LCS logistical efficiency in two scenarios. For the first scenario, LCS will deploy for a MIW mission. Efficiency, during this mission, will be measured by how long LCS can conduct continuous operations before a logistic or crew fatigue constraint forces it to leave the operating area. The efficiency measure will be called operational availability (Ao). The second scenario will require LCS to perform three different humanitarian operations from a forward deployed naval base or by being detached from an underway forward deployed carrier strike group or expeditionary strike group (CSG/ESG) in the Western Pacific. Speed is one of the key attributes LCS brings to a theater. Speed has been a critical factor in getting aid to disaster areas or to injured and/or sick persons on the high seas.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA479828
Entities
People
- John P. Baggett
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School