Just-in-time ordnance delivery can extend a carrier battle group's ability to conduct strike sorties. Using vertical replenishment methods, helicopters transfer ordnance from a nearby combat support ship to the carrier, where it is unloaded, finned and fuzed, and uploaded onto strike aircraft for the next mission—without ever being stored in the carrier's magazines.
The Navy's new weapon systems and their increased reliability enable today's carrier air wings to strike harder than ever before. Exploiting these new technologies, we have been able to increase significantly the lethality as well as the number of strike sorties that a single aircraft carrier can generate. Conducting surge operations or other excursions outside of the Defense Planning Guidance, however, can overtask a carrier battle group's ordnance handling and delivery capabilities, which are pivotal to its ability to conduct sustained strike operations, even when augmented by a second carrier battle group or shore-based aircraft.
Traditional carrier strike operations dictate rearming commencing on the third day, a process repeated daily thereafter, for the duration of surge operations. Each time, there is a temporary (generally about three to four hours) cessation in strike operations. This not only provides the enemy time to regroup, it also opens a window of vulnerability that an adversary may exploit.
Just-in-time ordnance delivery (JITOD), a concept developed by the Navy helicopter community, is a fundamental shift in the resupply paradigm. It breaks up the carrier's daily required ordnance delivery into several manageable evolutions, performed between a carrier's launch and recovery cycles, to enable sustained surge operations.
Genesis of an Idea
All time spent in replenishing was time lost in combat . . . no commander can ever tell what a few minutes may mean in the future. —Admiral Arleigh Burke
Helicopter delivery is by far the most flexible ordnance resupply option and is accomplished best by a method known as vertical replenishment (VertRep). Developed in the 1950s, VertRep is the primary method of resupply at sea for U.S. carrier battle group commanders, providing consistent, on-demand, and flexible fleet logistic support. Today it is performed by Helicopter Combat Support (HC) detachments using the aging Boeing CH-46D helicopter.2 Already well past their designated service lives, the Navy's CH-46Ds are scheduled to be replaced beginning in fiscal year 00 with an even more capable aircraft, a marinized variant of the Army Black Hawk helicopter, the Sikorsky CH-60S KnightHawk.
Just in time ordnance delivery leverages the current efficiencies of helicopter delivery and the tremendous capabilities of our fast combat support ships (AOEs). Combining the functions of three logistics support ships—fleet oiler, ammunition ship, and refrigerated stores ship—an AOE's mission is to furnish simultaneous replenishment of petroleum products, ammunition, fleet freight, and provisions to a combatant task force at sea. Displacing 54,000 tons and able to cruise in excess of 27 knots, it is the only sea-based logistics asset swift enough to keep station with a carrier battle group. Despite these capabilities, our AOEs remain underutilized. Treated as capital ships, they are kept on a very long leash and brought in close to the carrier only when necessary for resupply. The JITOD concept proposes that the AOE remain with the carrier and be kept there on a very short tether (ten miles).
There is a critical tactical reason to keep the AOE close to the carrier. A modern nuclear carrier deploys with a notional load of 4,200 tons of ordnance, a total that will be depleted in four days of around-the-clock strikes. As an ammunition ship, an AOE carries enough heavy ordnance to resupply the carrier's magazines several times over, as well as a complete assortment of missiles and ammunition for the other ships of the battle group. JITOD is a subtle yet somewhat radical paradigm shift: use the vast quantities of ordnance on the AOE first and maintain the carrier's ordnance as a tactical reserve. The first strikes of a conflict still would be conducted using the carrier's ordnance; but after that the AOE would move in and provide a steady stream of ordnance via helicopter delivery, immediately backfilling the carrier's requirements. After approximately ten days, the AOE would have to detach from the battle group for resupply, which could be accomplished by shuttle ship (T-AE, T-AO) or by pulling into a friendly port for replenishment. The carrier could stay and fight for up to seven additional days using its organic ordnance assets until the AOE returned on station.
The Gulf War demonstrated the limitations of the current method of ordnance resupply. After a five-month buildup, the air war against Iraq began on 17 January 1991. Within four days, the carriers' magazines had been depleted to the point that strike operations had to be suspended for periods of up to 12 hours to allow for resupply. It is easy to imagine that a single carrier battle group without benefit of a prolonged logistics buildup would deplete its magazines at an even faster rate. By optimizing the capabilities of our combat logistics force ships, JITOD permits a carrier battle group to conduct around-the-clock strike operations and remain on station for up to two weeks while awaiting augmentation by a second battle group.
Just as Easy, Just as Cheap, Just as Quick
JITOD was developed jointly by HC-II, the H-46 single-site Fleet Replacement Squadron (HC-3), the Type Wing (Commander, Helicopter Tactical Wing Pacific), and the Type Commander (Commander, Naval Air Pacific) to enhance the battle group's critical logistics capability. It gets out in front of an obvious, but underappreciated issue: you can't sustain strike operations for extended periods if you don't have sufficient quantities of ordnance. JITOD provides a carrier battle group commander with several advantages:
Around-the-clock, on-demand, transparent ordnance delivery. One of the keys to JITOD is the ability to deliver ordnance during fixed-wing flight operations. Delivering smaller quantities of ordnance between launch and recovery cycles directly to the carrier's elevators does not require detensioning the arresting gear or an all-hands evolution to properly stow. Thus, it does not interfere with normal aircraft operations.
Real-time, flexible strike package tailoring. Using satellite and organic intelligence assets, today's battle group commander can receive near-real-time battle damage assessments. In some cases, an objective may need to be targeted again. Current procedures allow for changes to follow-on strike packages, but oftentimes specific weapons are required from the battle group logistics ship before a restrike can occur. Present resupply procedures require excessive lead time, suspension of flight operations, and usually are inadequate in a volatile real-world environment. Using the JITOD concept, a battle group commander has the ability to make modifications to the next launch's ordnance requirements and restrike a target within three hours.
Not helicopter specific. CH-46 helicopters are ideal for conducting the JITOD mission, but it also can be accomplished with SH-60F/Hs. The CH-60S, the H-46 replacement aircraft, has a greater lift capability, which will decrease the time required to move ordnance to the carrier and thus enhance JITOD and the battle group's ability to conduct sustained surge operations.
No additional funding to implement. JITOD simply captures existing efficiencies in the ordnance resupply process and eliminates waste and redundancy.
The JITOD Demonstration
The traditional calculus is that a U.S. Navy carrier battle group is able to provide 100 strike sorties per day. In 1995, however, Carrier Group Seven, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), and Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9) demonstrated that double that number is achievable. Over a four-day period, CVW-9 averaged 194 strike sorties per day in support of an amphibious assault along the southern California coast. In July 1997, Third Fleet's Pacific Joint Task Force Exercise 97-2 revalidated the concept. Aircraft from the Nimitz battle group supported the USS Peleliu (LHA-5) amphibious ready group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit during a full-scale amphibious landing near Camp Pendleton, California. Over a 98-hour period, nearly 800 strike sorties were launched against various targets in the exercise area.
A limited proof-of-concept demonstration and expanded operational evaluation of JITOD was conducted in May 1997 during the Nimitz battle group's ComptuEx 97-B. Developed jointly by staff members from Commander Naval Air Force Pacific, Commander Carrier Group One, Commander Carrier Group Seven, Commander CVW-9, the Nimitz, the Sacramento (AOE-1), Commander Helicopter Tactical Wing Pacific, and Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 11 (HC- 11), the demonstration plan mapped out the expected process (figure 1) and established some basic goals:
- Develop a workable ordnance flow path
- Develop a realistic flight deck and hangar deck spotting plan
- Demonstrate the potential of around-the-clock, on-demand, and transparent ordnance delivery
For planning purposes, it was assumed that two 1,000pound Mk-83 bombs would be carried on each of the 200 daily strike sorties. This relatively small ordnance requirement (400 Mk-83s) could be provided by approximately 25-30 VertRep lifts during any given four-hour period. Notional periods of four hours were chosen to coincide with the carrier's daily air plan, which used 1+30 cycle times. The team decided to demonstrate the concept first during the down time between launch and recovery cycles, rather than during fixed-wing operations, and three 35-minute VertRep windows were established in between the normal 1+30 cycles.
After helicopter patterns, load placement, and ordnance flow paths were verified, a daytime demonstration was conducted by the Nimitz, Sacramento, and HC-1 Detachment 3. The goal was to deliver 30 pallets of Mk-83 bombs and 14 pallets of bomb fins to the Nimitz's elevator 4. The elevator then would be lowered and offloaded by forklifts. From there the ordnance was moved through the hangar bay to the lower stage elevators and down into a weapon-assembly area. The Mk-83s then were finned, fuzed, and returned to the flight deck, where they were uploaded onto the F/A-18s and F-14s for the next strikes.
The helicopter pattern was 300 feet and below, with both helicopters monitoring the Sacramento's and Nimitz's land launch frequencies. The air officer on the Nimitz controlled the overall evolution. At the commencement of the evolution, one helicopter was airborne in the Nimitz's port delta pattern while the other was turning on the flight deck of the Sacramento.
The entire process took approximately four hours, without the ordnance ever being stored in the Nimitz's magazines. The three 35-minute VertRep windows proved more than adequate to deliver the required ordnance and associated hardware. Using two CH-46Ds, HC-II Detachment 3 was able to deliver all 44 pallets during a single 35-minute period; a single helicopter would have been able to accomplish the mission in two of the three periods. Given the CH-60S's significantly greater lift capability, it is reasonable to assume that these times could be reduced.
Reducing the total process time is the ultimate goal and is considered feasible by members of the concept demonstration's planning staff. Several key planning factors were identified, with ship's position and elevator offload time being the most critical. Initially, the Sacramento was stationed 1,000 yards from the Nimitz on the 235o relative bearing. Transfer time was approximately two minutes per lift at this distance. Moving the Sacramento up to the 260 relative bearing and decreasing the range to 500 yards reduced the transfer time to a more acceptable one minute per lift. Reducing the 30 minutes required to download the elevator could be accomplished by refining offload procedures and increasing the number of available forklifts.
An unanticipated lesson from the initial JITOD demonstration was that the carrier, with its significant aviation fuel capacity, did not need to interrupt operations to refuel or replenish nonordnance stores for as long as seven days. This tactically significant result increases the CinC's and battle group commander's operational flexibility and further enhances their ability to increase and sustain strike operations.
JITOD Deployment '99
Building on the lessons of the Nimitz demonstration, the Center for Naval Analyses currently is evaluating the concept with the USS Constellation (CV-64) battle group. Preliminaries were completed during Joint Task Force Exercise 99-1 (JTFX 99-1), including VertRep to elevator 3. Thus far during the deployment, the Constellation, Sacramento, HC-II team has VertRep-ed weapons and stores to elevator 3 via JITOD while conducting high-tempo flight operations. According to Constellation skipper Captain "Gronk" Bullard, "JITOD has become a way of life for us and has proved to significantly improve our combat ability."
Just in time ordnance delivery provides focused logistic support to carrier strike operations by capitalizing on existing efficiencies in the ordnance resupply process and remedying deficiencies. It prevents the rapid depletion of a carrier's organic ordnance assets during prolonged strike operations, permits real-time, flexible strike package tailoring, and requires no additional funding to implement. Joint Publication 1, Joint Warfare of the U.S. Armed Forces, states, "Logistics sets the campaign's operational limits." JITOD will extend those limits and enable a stronger and more lethal force.
Captain Mullarky is project officer for the H-60R/S Fleet Introduction Team. A naval aviator and graduate of the U.S. Army War College and Naval Postgraduate School, he previously served as wing commander at Helicopter Tactical Wing Pacific Fleet in San Diego and has commanded HC-1, the H-3 FRS at NAS North Island, California, and HC-4 in Sigonella, Sicily.
Commander Schnell is assigned to Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Resources, Warfare Requirements, and Assessments, in Washington, D.C. A naval aviator and graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School, he previously served as operations officer and aircraft maintenance officer at HC-II, NAS North Island, and on the staff of Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Pacific Fleet. He was the detachment officer in charge of Detachment 3 during ComptuEx 97-B.