Efficacy Evaluation of Current and Future Naval Mine Warfare Neutralization Method

This capstone report analyzes the expected mine countermeasures (MCM) performance of legacy and emerging mine neutralization systems on multiple platforms. The systems evaluated are the SLQ-48 Mine Neutralizing System, the SLQ-60 SeaFox, the AN/AQS-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization System/Archerfish, and the Improved Mine Neutralization SystemBarracuda currently being developed by Raytheon. The platforms in which these systems are to be supported on are the Avenger MCM ship, the MH60S Knighthawk helicopter, and the littoral combat ship (LCS). The study focused on three measures of effectiveness (MOEs): mission time, weapon expenditures, and mission effectiveness. Using an operational simulation and design of experiments (DOE), our team determined which configuration variations of these systems on supported platforms appeared to be the most effective. The study found that the performance of the Improved Mine Neutralization SystemBarracuda presented an increase in capability over legacy systems. In addition, the simulation analysis results depicted a significant performance increase from aerial-deployed neutralizers and neutralizers deployed simultaneously in parallel configurations. This report suggests that, when possible, mine neutralization should be conducted in a parallel configuration from multiple platforms with the most capable neutralizer available.