Increasing the speed of sealift ships will result in increased fuel consumption compared to conventional sealift ships. Consequently, a greater percentage of available deadweight must be allocated to fuel, reducing available cargo deadweight. While fuel consumption is a significant factor in the economic viability of all lift vehicles, availability of fuel in-theater is particularly important for military planners. This paper has presented the results of a study to assess the fuel usage implications of advanced high-speed sealift ship (HSS) concepts compared to military airlift airplanes and conventional sealift ships. The results show that the high-speed sealift concepts require more fuel per ton-mile of cargo transported than conventional sealift ships, but less than the higher-speed airlift aircraft. Furthermore, the HSS concepts, like conventional sealift ships, retain competitive fuel usage rates for unrefueled ranges beyond those achieved with aircraft. Consequently, HSS ships remain competitive from the standpoint of fuel usage with aircraft and conventional ships. The advantage of HSS over conventional sealift lies in providing a solution to the capability gap between rapid delivery of small loads by aircraft, and the slower delivery of the large heavy loads by sea. Aside from the differences in fuel consumption addressed, significant differences exist between other characteristics of the different vehicle types that are important in evaluating the utility of these vehicles for strategic lift applications. Important considerations such as the costs of the airlift or sealift vehicles, manpower required, limits on loads that can be carried in a single lift, availability of suitable facilities to load and unload cargo, and numbers of vehicles required to meet the overall lift demanded may be as important as, or more important than, the amount of fuel used.
Fuel efficiency comparison between high speed sealift ships and airlift aircraft
Vergleich der Kraftstoffwirtschaftlichkeit zwischen (militärischen)Hochgeschwindigkeits-Logistik-Schiffen und Logistik-Flugzeugen
Marine Technology and Sname News ; 39 , 2 ; 105-108
2002
4 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 1 Quelle
Article (Journal)
English
Fuel Efficiency Comparison Between High Speed Sealift Ships and Airlift Aircraft
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