CUVX Design Report - the AOE home page - Virginia Tech

CUVX Design – VT Team 2 Page 97b. Mission Capabilities.Enhance our ability to provide the following capabilities specified in the Defense Planning Guidance:(1) Deny the enemy sanctuary by persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), tracking, and rapidengagement.(2) Execute and support flexible time sensitive strike missions with speed measured in minutes and precisionmeasured in meters through appropriately positioned “shooters” to seize the initiative and disrupt enemytimelines.(3) Support, maintain and conduct operations with the most technologically advanced unmanned/remotelycontrolled tactical and C 4 /I reconnaissance vehicles.(4) Provide sufficient mobility and endurance to perform these missions on extremely short notice, at locationsfar removed from home port.(5) Provide enhanced seaborne positioning of joint assets.Given the following significant constraints:(1) Minimize personnel in harms way.(2) Reduce cost.c. Need.Current assets supporting these capabilities include:(4) Land and carrier-based manned aircraft and UAVs(5) Cruise missiles launched from submarines and surface ships(6) Space-based and long-range aircraftThese assets are costly and/or put significant numbers of personnel in harms way. Their cost does not allow forsufficient worldwide coverage of all potential regions of conflict necessary to support continuous ISR and sea-basedpositioning for immediate time-sensitive strike. Manned aircraft are particularly vulnerable to First Day of Warscenarios until enemy defenses are sufficiently suppressed and the risk of loss of life is reduced.The Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV-N) is a transformational technology in development with thepotential to effectively address some of these problems. “Transformation is about seizing opportunities to create newcapabilities by radically changing organizational relationships, implementing different concepts of warfighting andinserting new technology to carry out operations in ways that profoundly improve current capabilities and developdesired future capabilities.” The current concept of operations for UCAV-N is to provide support and delivery usingexisting CVNs. This plan fails to address the problems of cost and risk identified above. UCAV-N and its supportsystem must be developed as a total transformational system.There is a mission need for a UCAV-N support and delivery system or platform to provide the missioncapabilities specified in paragraph (b.) above. This transformational system must be developed in parallelwith UCAV-N to maximize mission effectiveness and minimize cost.3. NON-MATERIAL ALTERNATIVES.a. Change the US role in the world by reducing international involvement.b. Increase reliance on foreign military facilities and support to meet the interests of US policy.c. Increase reliance on non-military assets and options to enhance the US performance of the missions identifiedabove while requiring a smaller inventory of naval forces.d. Make increased use of foreign air bases.4. POTENTIAL MATERIAL ALTERNATIVES.a. Increase the production and numbers of Nimitz Class CVN’s for support of manned and unmanned aircraft.b. Provide a surface ship specifically designed or modified to support UAVs and UCAVs in ISR, First Day of War(FDOW) and Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions. Deploy in larger numbers than current CVNs.Alternatives include:• Convert existing LHD or LHA class ships to UCAV carriers• Design and build a modified-repeat LHD or LPD-17 as a UCAV carrier• Design and build an entirely new class of UCAV carrier (CUVX)