SEA FORCE: A Sea Basing Platform

Executive Summary

The 2003 design project was the second part of a two-year effort on Sea Basing and Expeditionary Warfare. The 2002 study identified and defined capability gaps, developed platform solutions, and generated conceptual design requirements for an expeditionary warfare family of ships, a heavy lift aircraft, and other systems designed to be capable of fully implementing the Ship to Objective Maneuver and Sea Basing doctrines identified as the future concepts of operation. The 2003 Expeditionary Warfare Force Protection Integrated Project was tasked to develop a system of systems conceptual solution to provide force protection for the Sea Base developed in the 2002 study.

An terative requirements generation process between the SEA-4 and TSSE design teams, resulted in a need for a ship designed to provide Sea Base defense, which is highly maneuverable and can establish a secure line of communication between the SEA BASE and the shore while operating in shallow water with minimum manning and multi-mission capable. The resulting design is the trimaran SEA SWAT. SEA SWAT is a high-speed trimaran designed to operate in very shallow water. It was design to operate singly or in groups to protect the ships of the Sea Base while in theater, including all airborne and surface assets between Sea Base and the objective. The design allows for modular payloads, which can be tailored for a specific mission, including SUW, USW and AAW.

The core vessel is equipped with a Multi Function Radar, 4 HARPOON missiles, 2 Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB), Mk 3 BOFORS 57mm gun, SEA RAM, and a Chaff Launch System. The USW/MIW Mission Package contains a Mk 32 Mod 15 Torpedo Launcher, 6 Mk 50 Torpedoes, a Low Frequency Active Towed Sonar (LFATS), LAMPS, and the AN/SLQ-32 Nixie. It also features the Advanced Side Looking Sonar (ASLS), the AN/AQS-20X hull mounted sonar for mine detection, and 2 mine hunting UUVs. The AAW Mission Package is equipped with and 8-cell Mk 41 VLS and 32 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles, using the Mk 25 Quad-Pack. An LM2500+, an LM1600 and a 3 MW Allison Generator, for emergency use, power SEA SWAT. Two 25 MW synchronous high temperature superconducting (HTS) motors capable of providing more than 67,000 SHP are available for primary means of propulsion. Two-podded propulsors located on each sidehull provide 500 SHP for low speed maneuverability. Port and starboard AC Buses provide 13.8 KVAC 3-phase power for propulsion and combat systems. Port and starboard DC buses provide 500 VDC power for ships service, combat systems and auxiliaries. The integrated design allows for continuity of power under casualty conditions.

More Information

The following documents are available for download.

• Final Report
  The final student report (PDF file).
• Project Presentation:
  • View Presentation (separate browser window).
    Synchronized audio/video/slides. Requires MS Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher with Windows Media Player 6.4 or higher. High speed (DSL/LAN) internet connection is also needed.
  • Download Presentation (PPT file).
• Right-click to download Rhino-3D drawings:
  • Ship Model (25,034 KB).
• CD Image Files - These are the final files from the yearly project CD and contain information in addition to what is available in these web pages.
  • CD Image
    ISO file, 147 MB. Right-click to download to your hard drive and then use your CD burning software to burn a copy of the entire CD.
  • CD cover
    PPT file.
  • CD disc cover
    DOC file.