Connector Survivability in the Current Operating Environment

U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps concepts have evolved significantly in the past five years. Such concepts as distributed maritime operations, expeditionary advanced base operations, and stand-in forces call for a naval force that can fight within the weapon engagement zone of a peer competitor during a high-end conflict. This capability requires maneuver and sustainment, which depend, in large part, on the current and future fleet of both surface and connectors. Therefore, Navy and Marine Corps analysts are confronted with the challenge of developing the right family of systems to keep a stand-in force moving in a high end fight under the anti-access/area denial threat. Survivability is a critical consideration for all combat watercraft, including the Navy's current fleet of amphibious connectors. The landing craft utility and landing craft air cushion, the key lifting components of that fleet, were not designed with survivability in mind as part of a stand-in force. The requirements for these craft were developed using past naval concepts for power projection and in a more permissive threat environment. Although the analysis behind the requirements was sound, current operating concepts demand that the Navy and Marine Corps place craft survivability at the center of their analysis for the current and future fleet. In this report, we examine how past concepts drove Navy and Marine Corps thinking about watercraft survivability, look at how survivability was factored into the requirements for todays fleet of amphibious connectors, offer recommendations for how the Navy and Marine Corps could improve surface connector survivability for the fleet of the future, and suggest areas for further research. We conducted interviews and discussions with both military and civilian subject-matter experts within the Department of the Navy (Navy and Marine Corps) with oversight and responsibilities for acquisition requirements, doctrine, and operations.