Assessing the operational effectiveness of a small surface combat ship in an anti-surface warfare environment

Abstract

The design and capabilities of current naval ships may not meet the demands of naval operations such as anti-piracy, search and rescue, maritime interdiction, and force protection. Smaller vessels, especially Offshore Patrol Vessels, are better suited for these types of missions due to their affordability, speed, and flexibility. However, deciding on the requirements for a flexible, yet mission-effective, naval vessel requires the simultaneous consideration of technical inputs and operational needs. The model-based ship design approach ensures that the mission requirements are linked to the capability analysis. In this way, Navy needs are better translated into ship requirements, and the decision makers get what they really need to acquire at the end of the process. The first step of this approach is assessing the operational effectiveness of the ships. This is done utilizing the combat modeling platform Map Aware Non-Uniform Automata (MANA)and the power of Design of Experimentsto simulate how various potential capabilities, tactics, and rules of engagement affect mission outcomes.