Logistics supply of the distributed air wing

Abstract

The use of the aircraft carrier has been the norm for delivering sizable amounts of air power swiftly to any part of the world. A capstone project, conducted by the system engineering curriculum, proposed to distribute the air assets from the aircraft carrier to multiple Expeditionary Airbases (EABs), which are land bases located within the operating theater. This thesis studies the logistical demands of the EABs, and adopts the Marine Aviation Logistics Support Program II (MALSP II) concept for the logistics supply of the Distributed Air Wing. Airship, fixed wing Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV), and rotary wing UAV are explored as the main cargo transportation means. This thesis develops a vehicle routing optimization model to optimize the transportation fleet size and mix, and a discrete event simulation to analyze the logistics concept. Experiments are conducted to determine the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of using cargo UAVs, using cargo trucks as a reference for comparisons. All platforms achieved the three days’ turnaround time, as stipulated by MALSP II. The airship is found to be the most cost-effective solution. Rotary wing and fixed wing UAVs deliver their supplies much faster, but are more suitable for quick response missions, instead of large cargo deliveries.