OPERATIONALLY ORIENTED VULNERABILITY REQUIREMENTS IN THE SHIP DESIGN PROCESS

For the first time in a top-level requirements document-the Land Attac k Destroyer (DD 21) Operational Requirements Document (ORD)-the U.S. N avy has implemented performance requirements that relate ship vulnerab ility to threat weapon types and the level of mission capability remai ning after a ship is hit. The Navy's Ship Operational Characteristics Study recommended an operational survivability standard of this type i n 1988. It is needed to define clearly to the designer the levels of o perational capability that must remain after a ship is hit, and to let decision makers know what to expect from ships they are buying. It al so is needed to provide a benchmark against which the results of Live Fire Test and Evaluation (LFT&E) can be compared. This paper discusses various approaches for formulating operationally oriented vulnerabili ty requirements (OOVRs), a way to balance OOVRs with susceptibility re quirements, and how OOVRs can be implemented at the ship design level. The paper also discusses possible concerns associated with implementi ng OOVRs, and how they can be resolved. It recommends that OOVRs be im plemented for each new U.S. Navy combatant ship acquisition program, i ncluding submarines.