Air Cushioned Landing Craft (LCAC) based ship to shore movement simulation : a decision aid for the amphibious commander, a (SMMAT) application

Abstract

Amphibious forces are the enabling force of choice to globally project rapid and sustainable combat power in the littoral. Whether delivering supplies and equipment for military operations or for humanitarian or disaster relief, the Air Cushioned Landing Craft (LCAC) is the primary surface ship-to- shore movement craft. The time needed to transfer the forces ashore may be critical to operational success and is an important planning consideration. Many factors complicate accurate prediction of this time. Even so, various commanders must use the best available information, given mission priorities and resource and capability limitations, to make numerous tradeoff decisions in planning and executing the movement of forces. In this paper, a simulation toolbox, the Simulated Mobility Modelling and Analysis Toolbox (SMMAT) is introduced, and a robust LCAC ship-to-shore simulation model is developed as an extension to SMMAT. This model provides the commander a prediction and tradeoff analysis tool for planning and executing the projection of power ashore.