Design Report Guided Missile Submarine SSG(X) - AOE - Virginia ...

SSG(X) Design – VT Team 3 Page 5
1 Introduction, Design Process and Plan
1.1 Introduction
This report describes the concept exploration and development of a Conventional Guided Missile Submarine
(SSG(X)) for the United States Navy. The SSG(X) requirement is based on the SSG(X) Mission Need Statement
(MNS), and Virginia Tech SSG(X) Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM), Appendix A and Appendix B. This
concept design was completed in a two-semester ship design course at Virginia Tech. SSG(X) must perform the
following missions:
1. Time sensitive and covert missile and torpedo launch.
2. Covert Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations.
The importance of action against regional powers is stressed in “Forward from the Sea” as published by the
Department of the Navy in December 1996. This action requires rapid response to developing crises in order to
protect U.S. interests and defend allies. “Naval Transformational Roadmap,” a Quadrennial Defense Review
Report, identified seven critical U.S. military operation goals, of which the SSG(X) design must meet the first, third,
fourth and fifth. These are: 1) protecting critical bases of operation; 3) protecting and sustaining U.S. forces while
defeating denial threats; 4) denying enemy sanctuary by persistent surveillance; and 5) tracking and rapid
engagement. Further concepts of operation for the SSG(X) design provide eight requirements. These are: 1)
operating in littoral regions; 2) engage threats in cooperation with other forces by providing a covert missile launch
platform; 3) launching time-sensitive and covert anti-air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare; 4) projecting
power ashore using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM); 5) conducting ongoing ISR; 6) conducting mine
detection, neutralization, and avoidance; 7) snorkeling during transit and using Air Independent Propulsion (AIP)
and batteries on station; and 8) supporting a single SEAL team.
The SSG(X) should be designed for minimum cost; the lead-ship acquisition cost should be less than $1B and
the follow-ship acquisition cost should be no more than $700M. The platform must be highly producible to
minimize time from concept to delivery. It should also be flexible enough to support variants. The platform must
operate within current logistics support capabilities and it must consider inter-service and C 4 /I. The design should
also focus on survivability in a high-threat environment and operation in all warfare areas. The platform should be
non-nuclear since the SSG(X) will operate in enemy littoral regions.
1.2 Design Philosophy, Process, and Plan
Submarine design is rooted in tradition, using experience and rules of thumb. The SSG(X) design does not
follow the standard design process. A Multi-Objective Genetic Optimizer (MOGO) uses a genetic algorithm to find
optimal feasible designs. It considers three objective attributes: effectiveness, risk, and cost. The MOGO searches
for designs with maximum effectiveness and minimum risk and cost. Innovation is important in this design to
develop a non-nuclear covert missile launch platform that meets the goals laid out in the SSG(X) MNS and ADM.
The design process uses a total system approach; all submarine systems are evaluated for their effectiveness, risk,
and cost.
This project covers Concept and Requirements Exploration in the Fall semester and Concept Development in
the Spring. This is illustrated in Figure 1. The Concept and Requirements Exploration process used in this project
is illustrated in Figure 2. Concept and Requirements Exploration results in a baseline design; from this, a
preliminary Operational Requirements Document (ORD) is developed. The ORD is provided in Appendix C and
specifies performance requirements, design constraints, and concepts to be explored. It serves as the primary
requirements document for Concept Development.