Green Ships Bringing the Green Machine to the Fight: How a New Concept Small Deck Amphibious Ship Can Enhance the US Navy Energy Security Posture.

摘要

Energy security and fossil fuel independence remain a dominant strategic imperative two years after the Secretary of the Navy; Honorable Ray Mabus defined a vision for the US Navy's Energy posture. The necessity of fossil fuels exposes vulnerabilities in our ability to perform the dynamic US Navy amphibious mission following a drawdown of sustained high intensity conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. The need to address these vulnerabilities drives the development of innovative solutions to properly outfit ships with the technology and tools required to meet the fluid challenges of operating a forward deployed Navy. The current amphibious Fleet will be outfitted with energy efficiency enabling technologies over the next several years but as it ages into obsolescence over the following 30 years, new ships will need to be continuously designed and built with energy as a Key Performance Parameter (KPP) to ensure our future fleet maintains a strong Energy Posture. The Navy's engineering community will begin an Analysis of Alternatives in 2012 for the next Dock Landing Ship LSD(X). This provides the Navy a prime and unparalleled opportunity to design and specify a ship that meets the Amphibious Assault needs set forth by the Combined Navy and Marine Corp amphibious assault strategy while saving fuel enhancing operations ashore and efficiently and effectively bringing Marines to the fight.