DEFENSE AGAINST SHIP AS A WEAPON
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Authors
Koh, Wee Yung
Subjects
Advisors
Papoulias, Fotis A.
Huynh, Thomas V.
Date of Issue
Date
2011-12
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
en_US
Abstract
As an example of ships used as weapons (SAW), an oil tanker is hijacked and commandeered by terrorists to collide with a high-value maritime or shore target. If sunk or destroyed in a shipping lane as a result of a counter measure, the SAW’s collateral damage would severely disrupt the traffic flow in the shipping lane. To prevent such a disruptive catastrophe, non-destructive measures must be implemented to cause the SAW to deviate from its destructive path toward the target. One such a measure involves a strategic application of forces induced by water plume barriers (WPB) to the SAW. The goal of this thesis is to examine the feasibility of realizing such a measure.
Toward this goal, a mission analysis, using the Singapore Strait as setting and petrochemical plants on Jurong Island as targets of a SAW attack, establishes the requirement on the deviation of the SAW path from its destructive course. The nominal WPB-induced force that satisfies the deviation requirement is estimated using ship hydrostatics. Solving the equations of motion governing the response of the SAW to a strategic application of a WPB-induced force yields the SAW’s motion, which is used to define a range of the WPB-induced forces and their application locations and durations that satisfy the SAW’s path deviation requirement.
Parametric studies were conducted for a range of physically realizable WPB-induced forces and application times. The results demonstrate that, in principle, the objectives of this work are achievable. These results will be validated upon the completion of an on-going research by National University of Singapore. The range of the WPB-generated forces and their application durations serve as requirements to the generation of water plume barriers.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Mechanical Engineering
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Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
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Copyright is reserved by the copyright owner.