An analysis of rotary wing operations in urban combat using the JCATS Combat Model

Abstract

The trend of the world's population toward urban areas in the littoral region and increased likelihood of urban conflict has shifted the focus of the military to operations in the urban environment. There is interest within the DoD to evaluate the ability of U. S. forces to operate in the urban environment. In recent years, the Marine Corps has spent considerable time and effort conducting analysis on and development of urban warfare Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs). There is a need to refine and improve rotary wing operations in this setting. This thesis modeled and conducted analysis on rotary wing (RW) operations in urban combat using the Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation (JCATS) combat model. Focus was given to aircraft survivability to evaluate varying tactics and techniques to aid in development of Marine Corps RW TTPs. Thesis objectives were to evaluate rotary wing (RW) survivability in urban combat, determine the major factors impacting on RW survivability, give insight into the development of Marine Corps urban RW TTPs, and to evaluate JCATS as an urban combat modeling tool. A fractional factorial design was used to vary tactical factors and evaluate their effects. Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) for evaluation of these effects included Blue RW kills and Blue RW detections.