Sea Basing Platforms for the 21st Century - An Evaluation of Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future) [MPF(F)] and the Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) to Perform Sea Basing

Abstract

The Navy and Marine Corps must choose a sea basing platform concept that will enable the tenets of "Seabased Logistics". The Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future) [MPF(F)] concept replaces the existing prepositioning fleet with modern vessels adapted for sea basing needs. The Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) concept enables at-sea arrival and assembly, and integration of operational forces at sea through the use of strategic airlift. Comparing the capabilities of each concept to the tenets of "Seabased Logistics" singles out the sea base concept that is suitable for further development. The lack of assured access to host nation supported overseas bases, due to political issues, anti-access and area denial weapons, requires U.S. military forces to employ new methods to project direct and decisive power. Military and political leaders, worried about reluctance of foreign governments to allow U.S. military forces to use their territory for military operations, are looking for substitutes to replace the loss of those facilities. Sea Basing forms the foundation of generating overwhelming offensive and defensive joint power from the sea. Sea Basing maintains command-and control, delivers integrated fires, projects and sustains maneuver forces from over the horizon. Naval expeditionary logistics have provided sustainment, from over the horizon, from World War II to Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM. Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future) [MPF(F)] and Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) are competing sea base platform concepts that will enable Sea Basing by providing indefinite sustainment, reducing the footprint ashore, selective offload, adaptive response, interoperability, and force closure. MPF(F) concept is the best platform for Sea Basing.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA525958

Entities

People

  • Eric W. Covington

Organizations

  • Marine Corps War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Airframes
  • Amphibious Operations
  • Boats
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Logistics
  • Maintenance
  • Marine Transportation
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Tilt Rotor Aircraft
  • Transport Aircraft
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

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