Author: John Gordon

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13:

This research was performed for N-81 of the Navy Staff. The heavy lift aircraft research is one task in a multi-part project that simultaneously examines possible heavy lift aircraft alternatives and hypothetical high speed ships. The results of this research will help the Navy understand its options as it considers whether it should invest in a new heavy lift aircraft design.This study on heavy lift aircraft has three major segments. First was a technical assessment of the aircraft options. Seven different notional aircraft were examined. These ranged from a CH-53 helicopter variant that could be available roughly at the end of this decade, to several large helicopter designs, and finally a four engine version of a tilt-rotor aircraft. The technical assessment includes estimates of cost and dates when each aircraft could be available. The second portion of the study was a survivability assessment. It is possible that a new heavy lift aircraft could be used in an air assault mode to transport troops and equipment into hostile territory. The survivability assessment examined using this class of aircraft in various tactical situations to assess how it would fare against different levels of threat.The final portion of the analysis was a deployment assessment using a hypothetical northeast Asian crisis as the scenario. The movement of Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force elements to the crisis location was assessed, and the role of a heavy lift aircraft considered in this scenario. This analysis considered various ship types to move joint forces. It provides a useful complement to RAND?s other task that focused on high speed ships.