Next Generation Logistics Ships: Ammunition and Supply

Abstract

The purpose of the project is to conduct unbiased research to determine the optimal type and quantity of next generation logistics ships (NGLS) based on a notional scenario and demand requirements for ammunition and supplies. In recent decades, the United States Navy has proceeded unfettered by conventional threats or serious rivalry from near-peer competitors. Guidance from both the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) have driven the Department of Navy (DoN) to pursue Great Power Competition and to recalculate the advantages and disadvantages our military force has over our adversaries. This increase in demand for innovation and capability advantage supplied new concepts such as distributed maritime operations (DMO), littoral operations in contested environments (LOCE), and expeditionary advanced base operations (EABO). These concepts changed how the U.S. Navy would employ and distribute its forces across contested environments. The Strategic Mobility and Combat Logistics Division’s (N42) staff asked a complex question: how can the Navy logistically support and sustain these distributed forces without unnecessarily risking the combat logistics force (CLF) ships vital to the long-term sustainment of the fleet? We offer a framework using a transshipment mathematical model to rearm and resupply future logistics requirements in support of LOCE, DMO, and EABO.