A simulative method for evaluating the resistance of the flight deck's operational capability to the attack of anti-ship weapons

The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is relatively vulnerable compared to its hull, as the damage of some subsystems on the flight deck may cause the carrier losing its operational capability. Therefore, this work aims to represent a simulative method for evaluating the resistance of the flight deck's operational capability in the condition that the aircraft carrier is together with its strike group and the enemy uses the anti-ship missiles with the cluster warheads to attack. In the simulations, the susceptibility of the carrier and the vulnerability of the aircraft guarantee resources are gained. Then, with the help of the closed queuing network, the residual sortie generation rate can be solved, which reflects the flight deck's residual operational capability. The results have proven that the flight deck is of strong resistance to these attacks while it is very sensitive to the loss of some key aircraft guarantee resources. •The concept of flight deck-plate (FP) is applied to discretize and position the damaged area of the flight deck.•Using the residual sortie generation rate to express the residual operational capability of the aircraft carrier.•A simulative method for evaluating the resistance of the flight deck's operational capability to the attack of anti-ship weapons is put forward.