ELLIS CLASS MULTI-MISSION RECONNAISSANCE CRAFT SQUADRONS IN COMPETITION AND CONFLICT

Abstract

The capstone assesses the makeup and capabilities of Multi-mission Reconnaissance Craft (MMRC) squadrons in view of how effectively they could accomplish a given mission. This effort consisted of the development of a MMRC squadron system architecture, which describes the functional and operational use of the MMRC squadron within the Littoral Operations Area (LOA). Within the defined architecture, various measures of effectiveness (MOE) were analyzed to determine which metrics were most relevant to evaluate the successful employment of the MMRC squadrons. Simulations were developed in Map Aware Non-Uniform Automata (MANA) for a subset of missions in both a competition scenario and a conflict scenario, and a design of experiments was developed for each scenario. Regression analysis was conducted on the resulting data for each of the three MOEs in each scenario. While significant factors varied per each MOE, radar classification range and aperture arc overall played a significant role, suggesting that MMRC design should focus on procuring the best possible radar. For conflict, radar factors also played a significant role, alongside the number of hits it took to "kill" the MMRC. This suggests that focusing on durable design is an important part of ensuring success on missions in active conflict.