MOD SPONSORED RESEARCH INTO THEATRE ENABLERS IN THE MARITIME ENVIRONMENT

摘要

Expeditionary warfare is dependent on efficient maritime logistic support which itself relies upon theatre enablers. The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) sponsors research to ensure the effective use of logistics assets to maintain operational tempo. This paper summarises recent research in a number of areas: 1) The military effect of forward repair. With defence funding limited why does UK MOD need to invest in a forward repair capability? 2) The pros and cons of combining capabilities into platforms. On a similar theme, can MOD save money by building fewer hulls housing multiple capabilities/roles? Is this (a) technologically feasible and (b) militarily sensible? This will focus on forward repair, casualty treatment, aviation training and replenishment. 3) Ship to Ship Interface. MOD research is embryonic in this area and has thus far concentrated on developing a modelling tool to gauge the loads on an interface when 2 ships of disparate sizes need to transfer loads (in particular vehicles). 4) The benefits of, and technologies to enable, localised wave reduction. To enable strategic offload through austere ports, or more challengingly over a beach, the UK relies on watercraft. The loading of these watercraft is highly sea state dependent. If technology can reduce sea state locally then there is a resultant increase in tempo and the chance of enabling offload for a greater proportion of the time. Looking wider, then the technology may even reduce the reliance on docks in amphibious platforms - a significant cost and space driver.