MOVING ACQUISITION
DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
The defense transportation system consists of rail, air, highway and sealift transport methods. Transportability plays a major role in the effectiveness of Army capabilities.
BY AIR
Soldiers with the 75th Field Artillery Brigade, III Corps drive a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System vehicle out of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster in April 2018 at Al Minhad Air Base, United Arab Emirates. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Doug Roles, Task Force Spartan)
BY ROAD
Wagonmaster Soldiers with the 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade ready Heavy Equipment Transporter Systems in March during port-to-fort operations at the Port of Beaumont, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Calab Franklin, 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade)
parts require containers or other means of transport. Tis adds time to the deployment process because the systems need to be configured and reconfigured. In some cases, the process of reducing the system to a transport configuration is beyond the capabilities of the crew or organization. Tis adds another burden on the unit and complicates reception, staging, onward move- ment and integration in theater.
Once deployed, planners have to establish a staging or assembly area where the system will be returned to combat configuration—meaning fully assembled and operational. Once combat-configured, the systems may be too big or heavy to move on theater transportation assets, thus inhibiting theater mobility. If an intratheater move is needed, the unit using the system must again remove, package, transport and return all the equipment to the combat configuration. Te time and manpower to deal with configuring and reconfiguring systems become a burden to the units, reducing operational effectiveness. Tus, transport- ability plays a huge role in the effectiveness of Army capabilities.
TRANSPORTABILITY IN A COTS STRATEGY A COTS strategy increases the potential of encountering transportability issues. In a COTS strategy, there is limited preliminary testing before the commercial alternative enters low-rate initial production. Tis often results in transportability
issues, as commercial systems are not usually designed with unique military features that support transportability. To alle- viate these issues, transportability engineering should be part of the selection criteria. In most cases, transportability testing should occur before the acquisition decision. If some develop- mental tests are done, redesign for better transportability can occur before production.
If transportability issues arise later during production and field- ing, the range of design solutions is limited to those that can be retrofitted to the existing systems. Existing systems often receive a retrofit solution when a redesign occurs during produc- tion. Tis creates multiple system configurations that negatively affect supportability.
Deciding to trade or waive transportability can have seri- ous impacts. Considering transportability early in the process and before production and fielding leads to desired system performance and improved transportability. Transportability engineering is a military-unique requirement that is normally addressed in the engineering and manufacturing phase. A brief engineering and manufacturing phase in a COTS acquisition allows developers to modify mature commercial designs for better transportability before a fielding decision and production.
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Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2020
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