SEA BASING
ENSURING JOINT FORCE ACCESS FROM THE SEA
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract No. N00014-00-G-0230, DO #21, between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of the Navy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE ON SEA BASING: ENSURING JOINT FORCE ACCESS FROM THE SEA
HARRY W. JENKINS, JR.,
ITT Industries,
Co-chair
RICHARD L. WADE,
Exponent,
Co-chair
JEFFERY P. BENNETT,
LMI
ALAN BERMAN,
Applied Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University
PAUL BEVILAQUA,
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
E. RICHARD DIAMOND, JR.,
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems
STEVEN W. FLOHR,
Madison, Alabama
WESLEY L. HARRIS,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
GEORGE B. HARRISON,
Georgia Tech Research Institute
KEVIN F. KELLY,
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems
RONALD K. KISS,
Webb Institute
JOHN B. LaPLANTE,
Poland, Ohio
HENRY S. MARCUS,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
IRWIN MENDELSON,
Delray Beach, Florida
WILLIAM B. MORGAN,
Rockville, Maryland
JOHN H. MOXLEY III,
Korn/Ferry International
ROBERT G. SPRIGG,
General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works
JENNIFER P. WHITLOCK,
The Boeing Company
Staff
CHARLES F. DRAPER,
Naval Studies Board Acting Director (as of July 12, 2003)
ARUL MOZHI, Study Director
MARY G. GORDON, Information Officer
SUSAN G. CAMPBELL, Administrative Coordinator
IAN M. CAMERON, Research Associate
SEYMOUR J. DEITCHMAN, Consultant
SIDNEY G. REED, JR., Consultant
RAYMOND S. WIDMAYER, Consultant
NAVAL STUDIES BOARD
JOHN F. EGAN,
Nashua, New Hampshire,
Chair
MIRIAM E. JOHN,
Sandia National Laboratories,
Vice Chair
ARTHUR B. BAGGEROER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JOHN D. CHRISTIE,
LMI
ANTONIO L. ELIAS,
Orbital Sciences Corporation
BRIG “CHIP” ELLIOTT,
BBN Technologies
KERRIE L. HOLLEY,
IBM Global Services
JOHN W. HUTCHINSON,
Harvard University
HARRY W. JENKINS, JR.,
ITT Industries
DAVID V. KALBAUGH,
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
ANNETTE J. KRYGIEL,
Great Falls, Virginia
THOMAS V. McNAMARA,
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
L. DAVID MONTAGUE,
Menlo Park, California
WILLIAM B. MORGAN,
Rockville, Maryland
JOHN H. MOXLEY III,
Korn/Ferry International
JOHN S. QUILTY,
Oakton, Virginia
NILS R. SANDELL, JR.,
BAE Systems
WILLIAM D. SMITH,
Fayetteville, Pennsylvania
JOHN P. STENBIT,
Oakton, Virginia
RICHARD L. WADE,
Exponent
DAVID A. WHELAN,
The Boeing Company
CINDY WILLIAMS,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ELIHU ZIMET,
National Defense University
Navy Liaison Representatives
RADM JOSEPH A. SESTAK, JR.,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N81 (through October 1, 2004)
GREG MELCHER,
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Acting N81 (from October 2, 2004, through November 8, 2004)
RADM SAMUEL J. LOCKLEAR III,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N81 (as of November 8, 2004)
RADM JAY M. COHEN,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N091
Marine Corps Liaison Representative
LTGEN EDWARD HANLON, JR.,
USMC, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command (through September 30, 2004)
LTGEN JAMES N. MATTIS,
USMC, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command (as of October 1, 2004)
Staff
RONALD D. TAYLOR, Director (on leave from July 12, 2003)
CHARLES F. DRAPER, Acting Director (as of July 12, 2003)
ARUL MOZHI, Senior Program Officer
MARY G. GORDON, Information Officer
SUSAN G. CAMPBELL, Administrative Coordinator
IAN M. CAMERON, Research Associate
Preface
In response to the evolving U.S. national security posture, the Navy and Marine Corps promulgated a naval vision entitled Naval Power 21, based in part on “assuring sea based [emphasis added] access worldwide for military operations, diplomatic interaction, and humanitarian relief efforts.”1 More importantly, Sea Basing “projects the sovereignty of the United States globally while providing joint force commanders with vital command and control, fire support, and logistics from the sea, thereby minimizing vulnerable assets ashore.”2 Thus, Sea Basing represents a force-entry concept with potential for U.S. and coalition military forces in various regions of the world, thereby affecting the strategic landscape from which these forces will ultimately project power.
Recent events in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq have underlined the fact that the availability of land bases during conflicts may be uncertain owing to physical or political factors that delay, limit, or prevent their use. In many future military situations, the assumption of readily available, secure land bases is likely to be open to question, although one can make the argument that the Naval Services operate from a sea base of sorts today.
Specifically, Carrier Battle Groups (CVBGs) carry a certain amount of organic sustainment that supports their power-projection mission. Amphibious Ready Groups (ARGs) carry 10 to 15 days’ worth of all classes of supplies that sustain initial operations by Marines ashore. Both the CVBGs and the ARGs, or the new Carrier Strike Groups and Expeditionary Strike Groups as recently promulgated by the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps,3 are reinforced at sea (if required) by the Navy’s combat logistics force ships and the three Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) squadrons. The MPF squadrons, each carrying a 30-day supply of equipment for a 16,000-person brigade force, can support operations ashore if larger Marine Air Ground Task Forces, at the Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Marine Expeditionary Force levels, are required to support larger assigned missions. Unfortunately, it is difficult to off-load the three MPF squadrons except in port, and therefore they have minimal in-stream logistics capability otherwise when deployed.
Connectors that enable Sea Basing are an issue related to its implementation. For example, the connectors to move forces from facilities in the continental United States (CONUS) to advanced bases so that forces could eventually marry up with material, and ultimately to move forward forces and material to military objectives, are a crucial facet of Sea Basing. Recently, the Navy and the Army have experimented with high-speed ferry ships that have some capabilities as connectors.
Most recently, the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force on Sea Basing concluded that Sea Basing will be a critical future joint military capability and that it will help ensure access to areas in which U.S. military forces might be denied access to support facilities.4 In addition, the DSB concluded that it will be essential for the Department of Defense (DOD) to undertake a spiral development approach—one that accounts for evolution from current capabilities to tomorrow’s needs. In recommending such an approach, the DSB identified 12 issues for the realization of Sea Basing: 6 relate to management, planning, and resources, and the remaining 6 are grouped as new capabilities, some of which include issues relating to the connectors needed for enabling Sea Basing. Among the 6 new capabilities, the DSB identified 3 as important needs for the implementation of Sea Basing: (1) the capability to handle cargo in rough seas, characteristic of many likely areas of operations; (2) a heavy-lift aircraft (able to transport more than 20 tons) with theater-wide range that can be based at sea; and (3) ships whose design incorporates all of the requirements of the sea base system of systems.
In April 2004, the Department of the Navy requested that the National Research Council (NRC), under the auspices of the Naval Studies Board, convene a workshop to assess the science and technology base, both inside and outside the Department of the Navy, for developing Sea Basing, and that it identify research priorities for supporting future Sea Basing concepts. The terms of reference of the workshop are provided below. MajGen Harry W. Jenkins, Jr., USMC (retired), of ITT Industries, and Richard L. Wade of Exponent co-chaired the Committee on Sea Basing: Ensuring Joint Force Access from the Sea. Biographical information on the committee membership and the NRC staff is presented in Appendix A.
The purpose of the committee’s brief effort differs from that of the DSB’s more extensive study. The present report can help the Department of the Navy focus better on what it needs to do, whereas the broader DSB effort addresses the needs of the entire Department of Defense. The committee did not intend to enlarge upon, augment, or replace the DSB work, but rather to form some independent judgments, based on the experience and backgrounds that the committee members brought to the workshop that it held in September 2004 (see Appendix B) and on the information that was given to the committee by the Services and the DOD. Also, in the limited amount of time available for this review, it was not possible to study aircraft and ship design problems in any depth. Thus, it was necessary to rely heavily on the judgments of the workshop participants, which were based on their prior knowledge of the ship and aircraft design issues and the possible solutions to them.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
At the request of the Department of the Navy, the Naval Studies Board of the National Research Council convened a workshop to assess the science and technology base, both inside and outside the Department of the Navy, for developing Sea Basing, and to identify research priorities for supporting future Sea Basing concepts. Specifically, the workshop addressed the following:5
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Current and future naval operational concepts related to Sea Basing, including plans for, opportunities from, and limitations of Sea Basing; and
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A technology roadmap with anticipated time horizons for the realization of the following: (1) the capability to handle cargo in heavy sea states; (2) a long-range, heavy-lift aircraft (able to transport more than 20 tons) based at sea; and (3) ship classes and warfare systems that support open architecture design considerations.
In addition, the committee was tasked to assess the feasibility of the Naval Studies Board’s conducting a future study on Sea Basing aimed at identifying the Department of the Navy’s broader needs for developing a Sea Basing capability to support naval (and joint) force operations.6
STUDY WORKSHOP AND REPORT PREPARATION
The committee conducted a 4-day workshop—September 7-10, 2004—at the Keck Center of the National Academies in Washington, D.C. (see Appendix B for the workshop agenda). During the workshop, the committee heard presentations from the Department of the Navy, the U.S. Army, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and industry. The committee then outlined an initial draft report.
The months between the workshop and the publication of this report were spent preparing the draft manuscript, gathering additional information, reviewing and responding to external review comments, editing the report, and conducting the required security review to produce a public report.
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Roy R. Buehler, Mableton, Georgia,
Roy C. Evans, Jr., The MITRE Corporation,
Edward A. Frieman, Scripps Institute of Oceanography,
Peter A. Gale, J.J. McMullen Associates,
Michael P. Kalleres, Jacksonville, Florida,
J. Randolph Paulling, Geyserville, California,
Edward Petrushka, Fort Worth, Texas, and
John E. Rhodes, Balboa, California.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by William G. Howard, Jr., Scottsdale, Arizona.
Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.