Thesis | The SUCAV and BK-135

The SUCAV and BK-135: Transforming Delivery of CAS Ordnance. UPDATE, 17 MAY: Received the grade today. I was disappointed. I wish I could get back all those hours of work. Apparently, my writing isn't very clear. Also, if you write a long sentence, it obviously is a run-on and/or can't convey an idea. The concept is harder for me figure out than I initially thought. I need to readjust my approach and envision my reader is anyone but my audience. For example, if writing a paper for a masters degree, I guess it's best to write for someone who's, say, a freshman at College X - not someone who might also be getting a masters.*

ORIGINAL POST: I am well aware that ‘transforming’ is so overused, it’s almost negated its impact but it remains a pretty handy word for conveying change. ‘Changing’ or ‘improving’ ordnance for CAS didn’t seem to have the same impact. Also, the subtitle - as of now - is Transforming Delivery of Ordnance for CAS which I’m not too pleased with it having re-read it after the fact. I think ‘Transforming Delivery of CAS Ordnance’ or ‘Transforming CAS Ordnance’ might have sounded better. Or, to get rid of transformation altogether, ‘The SUCAV and BK-135 : On-Call CAS Ordnance’. Of course, the title is time wasted if the paper doesn’t convey my message. Maybe I should have thought of that before I went final…

I’ve completed the paper (one of several, but this was ‘the’ paper) for my masters and it involves linking unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), tankers (the KC-135 was the notional example) and small diameter bombs (SDB or GBU-39) with one of the best sensors available - the human on the ground. The abstract reads…

In less than a decade, the Air Force has witnessed the profound impact of combat-proven JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions), Predator UAVs firing precision weapons, the development of the Predator’s successor, the truly offensive Reaper, and the remarkable advent of the SDB. With all these capabilities at its disposal, the military is faced with the task of employing them in ways which maximize their effectiveness. The primary intent of this paper is to offer two slightly different, but very realistic options. The research examines trends in current operations which lay the foundation for systems capable of thoroughly exploiting SDB benefits and significantly reducing the sensor-to-shooter gap. Differing only in platform, two theoretical systems, the SUCAV (using MQ-9 Reapers) and the BK-135 (using tankers), are described in terms of their components, connectivity and concept of employment. Limitations and strengths are then addressed to show the systems can provide persistent, responsive strike potential using existing technology but require the military to make fundamental changes to paradigms surrounding air-delivered weapons. The full paper is here (PDF, 1.5MB).

* Sarcasm