Naval Postgraduate School

Analysis of High-speed Vessels for Seventh Fleet Logistics Support Naval Postgraduate School

Publisher Marketing: Commander, Logistics Group, Western Pacific (COMLOGWESTPAC) is concerned with the delivery of high priority material, ordnance, and passengers to U. S. Navy ships due to a very large operations area and limited Combat Logistics Force (CLF) assets. High-speed vessels (HSVs) may have the potential to improve the delivery of these materials when used to complement existing logistics shuttle ships. This thesis quantifies current levels of traditional naval logistics support and provides comparison to HSV-based alternatives in various scenarios. The CLF Scenario Analysis Tool (CLFSAT), a newly developed discrete event simulation model of naval logistics support, performs the analysis. Given a scenario depicting combatant movements and operations, CLFSAT provides insight into the comparative performance of different supporting naval logistics force structures. This analysis determines that HSVs can be effective logistics platforms in specific scenarios when distributing high priority material, ordnance, and stores. HSVs are very effective in small theaters with short transit distances, but for larger theaters, their effectiveness is inversely proportional to distance from the Forward Logistics Site. Regardless of theater size, HSVs show significant improvements in theater distribution of "low density, high priority" cargo, such as precision guided munitions (PGMs) or critical repair parts when customers are outside COD range.