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The Air-Maneuver and Transport Concept: Can it Transform the Nature of Rapid Contingency Operations?
Army Magazine, AUSA ^ | Jan 04 | Lt. Gen. H. Thomas Fields Jr., U.S. Army retired

Posted on 01/05/2004 5:34:40 PM PST by xzins

The Air-Maneuver and Transport Concept: Can it Transform the Nature of Rapid Contingency Operations? January 2004

By Lt. Gen. H. Thomas Fields Jr., U.S. Army retired

In the year 2020 a Middle East dictator attacked and occupied an oil-rich neighboring state. Other neighboring states were intimidated and reluctant to provide basing or overflight rights to a U.S.-led coalition. The United States initially responded with long-range strike and naval aviation to achieve air superiority and destroy the enemy's integrated air defense system. The enemy countered by dispersing ground forces, including mobile gun-missile air defense artillery (ADA) systems, into urban areas. The enemy also mined seaports and airfields to prevent access by U.S. forces. Armored reserves were placed in close proximity to major ports and airfields to react to airborne or amphibious assault. There were no indications of U.S. presence in near-range intermediate staging bases although naval forces were operating over the horizon.

Early one morning, the enemy began receiving reports that elements of highly mobile Future Combat System (FCS) brigades had been delivered overnight in dispersed areas of the country and were rapidly closing on critical objectives. Additional forces were inserted from long range by C-130J aircraft as isolated airfields were overrun by the FCS units. The FCS brigades possessed long-range fire support and organic attack helicopters. The U.S. force operated with minimal reliance on ground lines of communication (GLOC) for sustainment. There was no pause in operational tempo to replenish fuel and ammunition. The U.S.-led coalition seemed to be able to strike from anywhere with little apparent infrastructure. The enemy's dispersed forces were isolated and could not react to the sudden attacks from unexpected directions. Within days the enemy force had either been destroyed, surrendered or deserted. As urban areas were occupied by U.S. forces, palletized loads of humanitarian supplies were delivered by air to restore and reconstitute vital services. The campaign was successfully concluded with minimal casualties in a matter of days. Airports and seaports of debarkation (APOD/SPOD) were cleared for commercial traffic. The United States, fighting as part of a multinational coalition, had been able to dominate a determined and well-prepared enemy with no prolonged deployment phase or large-scale commitment of forces. How was it done?

The air-maneuver and transport (AMT) concept is the enabler for the type of campaign currently envisioned by the architects of the Transformation process. It would enable surprise entry, rapid operational tempo and pulsed sustainment of the U.S. ground forces in the scenario on Page 21. The AMT is presently a concept which will lead to an advanced lift platform capable of self-deploying up to 2,100 nautical miles, operating from austere support facilities or shipboard, and then transporting FCS-equipped brigades up to 1,000 kilometers into landing zones within one to two terrain features of intended engagement areas. The AMT will combine long-range, high payload and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities to extend the dominant maneuver and focused logistics characteristics of the future force. The AMT concept has been extensively investigated as an essential capability for the future force during the annual Army Transformation war games conducted at the Army War College since 1998. These war games have shown that the AMT concept will enable the future force to overcome enemy anti-access strategies, execute joint operational maneuver from strategic distances, conduct mounted and dismounted vertical envelopment operations and reduce reliance on ground lines of communication by conducting large volume aerial sustainment of deployed forces. The aerial sustainment capability is enabled by the capability to lift loads in excess of 20 tons and by advanced self-loading and discharging load-handling system flat racks incorporated into the AMT design. The AMT will be capable of shipboard operations, enabling it to conduct ship-to-air to objective area delivery of troops and supplies without transiting vulnerable airports or seaports of debarkation. The ability of an enemy to inflict U.S. casualties by attacking supply convoys along extended ground lines of communications will be severely degraded. These capabilities will reduce support structure requirements -- thereby enhancing Army deployability and reducing demands on strategic lift. As the AMT concept has matured, a number of existing and projected alternative materiel solutions have been examined and found wanting in providing the range of capabilities designed for the FCS unit of action. Fixed-wing aircraft such as the C-17, C-130 and future advanced tactical transport are not capable of vertical takeoff or landing or shipboard operations and are therefore more vulnerable to anti-access strategies. Present rotary-wing and tilt-rotor systems lack the range with the payload capabilities required for operational and tactical maneuver of the FCS system of systems. Also, the heavy lift VTOL capability of all our services has aged. The AMT concept offers a viable augmentation or replacement for such venerable work horses as the Army's CH-47 fleet and the U.S. Marine Corps CH-53.

An asymmetric enemy will obviously have invested heavily to counter the certainty of overwhelming U.S. air power. The threat to AMT will consist of man-portable air defense systems, close combat surface-to-air missile systems, air defense artillery systems, small arms and air-launched missiles and gunfire. The AMT survivability suite will incorporate an integrated suite of state-of-the-art laser, infrared and radio frequency aircraft survivability equipment plus joint tactical radio system based linkage to a network of joint and Army sensors, shooters and deciders. This will provide early warning and joint suppression of enemy air defenses. Survivability will also be enhanced by the capability to operate from secure bases and avoid prepared landing areas.

A number of materiel solutions have been identified for system level analysis to determine suitability and technical feasibility as the primary AMT candidate. These include tilt rotors, compounds such as a reverse velocity rotor helicopter, conventional helicopters and super-heavy lifter cranes. While there are advantages and disadvantages to each materiel concept, the winning solution will need to produce an AMT small enough to be configured for ship storage. This is because the future force will rely on fast sealift as a primary deployment means and self-deployment may not be feasible or desirable -- given anti-access strategies of potential adversaries. The cargo weight and range requirements for the AMT are obviously nonnegotiable if FCS brigades are to be empowered to conduct operational maneuver from strategic distances. Rotor wash should be equal to or less than present medium-lift helicopters for the AMT to be employed in close proximity to dismounted troops.

While the eventual form of the AMT is uncertain, there are clearly reasons to pursue the AMT concept. First, the FCS must be capable of being lifted into restricted terrain if it is to be capable of dominating the future operational environment. Second, the Army must reduce dependence on APODs, SPODs and GLOCs to reduce force vulnerability to anti-access strategies. Third, the Army's own analysis and gaming has shown that the difference between a future force with AMT and one without AMT is profound. Finally, the Office of the Secretary of Defense's advanced mobility concepts study technology panel concluded there is high potential that technology can be matured to produce the AMT at an affordable fly-away cost.

Occasionally a system is fielded that changes the nature of military operations. World War I saw the tank used to eliminate a stalemate between entrenched adversaries. World War II saw the use of air power to destroy an adversary's industrial capacity. Korea showed the capability of aerial medical evacuation to reduce mortality and morbidity. Vietnam saw the helicopter change the nature of ground maneuver. In the 21st century, the AMT could provide a joint commander the freedom to choose the launch point to insert highly mobile and lethal forces simultaneously into critical points of an area of operations without reliance upon interim staging bases, overflight routes or lengthy buildup of forces. This would, indeed, change the nature of rapid contingency operations.

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LT. GEN. H. THOMAS FIELDS JR., USA Ret., serves on the Senior Advisory Board of the Army Aviation Association of America. An infantryman with more than 34 years active service, he has served at every level of command from platoon to division. His last assignment was chief of staff/deputy commander, U.S. Pacific Command.


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: airmaneuver; deployment; fcs; forward; miltech; staging; superweapons; transport
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To: xzins
First trick to defeating a SAM with a five-mile range: stay six miles from the launcher.

"Hit him where he ain't."
41 posted on 01/06/2004 11:11:14 AM PST by Poohbah ("Beware the fury of a patient man" -- John Dryden)
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To: Poohbah; Paul Ross
Excellent point....

Paul, see PB's #41.
42 posted on 01/06/2004 11:15:35 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army and Proud of It!)
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To: xzins; Cannoneer No. 4
An alternate would be using the Boeing Pelican (See below) with existing shorter range helo and ground forces to deploy from secured airfields. This would only require the development of the ground-effect Pelican transport aircraft which should be an order of mangnitude easier than creating a fleet of long range, high payload capacity helos of equivalent airlift.

Source

The Pelican: A big bird for the long haul

BY WILLIAM COLE

It would be the biggest bird in the history of aviation.

Dwarfing all previous flying giants, the Pelican, a high-capacity cargo plane concept currently being studied by Boeing Phantom Works, would stretch more than the length of a U.S. football field and have a wingspan of 500 feet and a wing area of more than an acre. It would have almost twice the external dimensions of the world's current largest aircraft, the Russian An225, and could transport five times its payload, up to 1,400 tons of cargo.

Designed primarily for long-range, transoceanic transport, the Pelican would fly as low as 20 feet above the sea, taking advantage of an aerodynamic phenomenon that reduces drag and fuel burn. Over land, it would fly at altitudes of 20,000 feet or higher. Operating only from ordinary paved runways, the Pelican would use 38 fuselage-mounted landing gears with a total of 76 tires to distribute its weight.

The military, commercial and even space prospects for such a cargo plane—officially known as the Pelican Ultra Large Transport Aircraft, or ULTRA—are also huge.

"The Pelican can broaden the range of missions for which airplanes are the favored way to deliver cargo," said Boeing's Pelican program manager Blaine Rawdon, who is designing the plane with Boeing engineer Zachary Hoisington. "It is much faster than ships at a fraction of the operational cost of current airplanes. This will be attractive to commercial and military operators who desire speed, worldwide range and high throughput. We envision that the Pelican can multiply aircraft's 1-percent share in a commercial market now dominated by container ships."

John Skorupa, senior manager of strategic development for Boeing Advanced Airlift and Tankers, said, "The Pelican currently stands as the only identified means by which the U.S. Army can achieve its deployment transformation goals of deploying one division in five days, or five divisions in 30 days, anywhere in the world." If necessary, he said, the Pelican could carry 17 M-1 main battle tanks on a single sortie. Commercially, the aircraft's size and efficiency would allow it to carry types of cargo equivalent to those carried by container ships, at more than 10 times the speed.

"It is attracting interest as a mother ship for unmanned vehicles, enabling rapid deployment of a network-centric warfare grid, a likely future mode of operation for modernized U.S. forces as demonstrated in Afghanistan," Skorupa said. "And it is attracting interest as a potential first-stage platform for piggybacking reusable space vehicles to an appropriate launch altitude.

"Why would such a huge airplane be flown at such a low altitude?

By flying low, the Pelican, like its name-sake, exploits the aerodynamic benefits of a well-known phenomenon called ground effect. Flying close to water, the wing downwash angle and tip vortices are suppressed, resulting in a major drag reduction and outstanding cruise efficiency.

"It's an effect that provides extraordinary range and efficiency," Skorupa said. "With a payload of 1.5 million pounds, the Pelican could fly 10,000 nautical miles over water and 6,500 nautical miles over land.

"Flying in ground effect demands the latest flight control technology, conceded Skorupa. Reliable systems will provide precise, automatic altitude control and collision avoidance. Cruise altitude will be adjusted according to sea state, and if the seas get too rough, the Pelican can easily climb to high altitude to continue the flight.

When could the Pelican be flying? The answer may lie in the Army's Advanced Mobility Concepts Study, scheduled for release next April. The Pelican has been offered by Boeing as part of a system-of-systems solution that would include the C-17 Globemaster III transport, the CH-47 Chinook helicopter and the Advanced Theater Transport.

"A favorable report would set the stage for a possible codevelopment effort between Boeing, the U.S. military and interested commercial cargo carriers," Skorupa said.

43 posted on 01/07/2004 4:28:19 PM PST by jriemer (We are a Republic not a Democracy)
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To: jriemer
Big, big, bird.

It's an amazing machine. I'm pretty sure it couldn't be initial strike airlift, but it might be follow-on airlift.

Given its size that should limit where it can land. That way if the enemy had even a plausible suspicion that you might attack, they'd know where to concentrate firepower.
44 posted on 01/07/2004 7:57:16 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army and Proud of It!)
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To: xzins
I would agree that the Pelican would not be the bird carrying SEAL teams to the fight. Most of the airlift capacity we have now is of the "follow-on" variety. I would imagine that the Pelican would be used to get forces and equipment near the theater of operations and farm from the "danger zone". With the exception of that C-17 jump raid into Northern Iraq, the big-money airlift equipment isn't normally gambled on an insertion mission.

Considering a C-5 got shot at today (1/8/04) from ground fire from outside Baghdad Int. and had to make an emergency landing, the USAF has a reason to be risk-adverse at putting their airlift investment in harms way.

45 posted on 01/08/2004 5:02:42 PM PST by jriemer (We are a Republic not a Democracy)
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