Broadening the Trade Space in Designing for Warship Survivability

Abstract

In littoral warfare against a competent adversary, affordable levels of stealth and defensive weapons will not prevent our warships from being hit by antiship weapons. As our ships will be hit, we must design them to absorb these hits and continue to fight. In this paper, we consider the future threat and four approaches to design for survivability: stealth, defensive weapons, passive defensive design, and increased numbers. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach are discussed. Only a balanced strategy that incorporates the elements of all four approaches is likely to be both survivable and affordable.