Unmanned Surface Logistics Concept of Support

Abstract

Project Summary: The purpose of the Navy Supply Corps is to manage the logistical pipeline, so resources are delivered to the warfighter as required. Naval units are easily able to replenish their stores while they are in port, but difficulties can potentially arise when they get underway to conduct missions and training exercises. The use of unmanned systems introduces a new naval unit class with many beneficial characteristics, including autonomous control for which minimal human supervision is required, reliability demonstrated by International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), and spacious cargo transportability evidenced by enough topside space for a 20-ft. International Standardization for Organization (ISO) container. This thesis seeks to identify key influential factors and provide useful insights to logistically support naval readiness and the naval units' continued ability to complete their missions. Modeling and analytical innovations used in this research include implementation of a discrete event simulation program, use of design of experiments, and sophisticated statistical analysis. Results from the analysis indicate that the rate of generation of new requests, the unmanned surface vehicle's top speed, and number of unmanned surface vehicles have the most impact on turnaround times for both mission duration and request fulfillment. Properly utilized, unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) can be a strong contributor to the success of U.S. Navy missions.