Common Support Aircraft
Encyclopedia
The Common Support Aircraft (CSA) is a proposed concept, which has been considered by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 since at least the early 1990s, to replace a number of different fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...

 capable of operating from an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 and which serve a "support" function, with a single type of aircraft or aircraft platform able to perform all support tasks.

Current roles deemed "support" by the Navy include: carrier on-board delivery
Carrier onboard delivery
Carrier Onboard Delivery is a military term used to describe type of aircraft which are able to ferry personnel, mail, and high-priority cargo on and off a naval ship .-History:...

 (COD), electronic surveillance (ES), electronic warfare
Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...

 (EW), and airborne early warning
Airborne Early Warning
An airborne early warning and control system is an airborne radar system designed to detect aircraft at long ranges and control and command the battle space in an air engagement by directing fighter and attack plane strikes...

 (AEW). Another possible support role for a carrier-based aircraft is that of aerial refueling
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....

.

Among combat roles, while anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 (ASW) and anti-surface warfare
Anti-Surface Warfare
Anti-surface warfare is a type of naval warfare directed against surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's surface ships....

 (ASUW) are sometimes also considered "support"; fighter
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

, bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...

, and ground attack roles are not.

Current carrier-based fixed-wing support aircraft used by the US Navy, and which would presumably be replaced by the CSA, include:

  • and the E-2 Hawkeye
    E-2 Hawkeye
    The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, aircraft carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy as a replacement for the...

    , for AEW.


Other support aircraft used by the US Navy in the recent past include:
  • the S-3 Viking
    S-3 Viking
    The Lockheed S-3 Viking is a four-seat twin-engine jet aircraft that was used by the U.S. Navy to identify, track, and destroy enemy submarines. In the late 1990s, the S-3B's mission focus shifted to surface warfare and aerial refueling. The Viking also provided electronic warfare and surface...

    , for ASW, ASUW, and aerial refueling;

  • the ES-3 Shadow, for ES.

  • the EA-6B Prowler, for EW;

The Case for a CSA

A major rationale for the CSA is cost. Using one aircraft or aircraft platform for many or all support functions, rather than several different aircraft, would permit cost savings in a number of ways.

The first would be in economies of scale
Economies of scale
Economies of scale, in microeconomics, refers to the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion. There are factors that cause a producer’s average cost per unit to fall as the scale of output is increased. "Economies of scale" is a long run concept and refers to reductions in unit...

 in manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...

. With a lower per-unit cost for each support aircraft and its spare parts, the expense of purchasing the support aircraft (as well as maintaining it over the course of its lifespan) is reduced.

Another cost saving would be in reduced training expenses. Maintenance crewmen would only have to be trained for one support aircraft, rather than many.

Still another would be in reduced logistical
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...

 requirements. With the same spare part, such as an engine, avionics
Avionics
Avionics are electronic systems used on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft.Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles...

 component, tire, and so on able to be used for aircraft used for multiple roles, either fewer total spare parts could be brought on board, or the same-sized pool of spare parts could be applied to any support aircraft, giving the crew more options. Furthermore, in a constrained environment such as a budget crunch or emergency battle damage control, cannibalization
Cannibalization of machine parts
Cannibalization of machine parts, in maintenance of mechanical or electronic systems with interchangeable parts, refers to the practice of removing parts or subsystems necessary for repair from another similar device, rather than from inventory, usually when resources become limited...

 of some support aircraft to keep others flying and functional is a greater possibility.

For these reasons, the US armed forces as a whole are moving toward vehicles and weapons platforms that are generalists rather than specialists, capable of performing a wide variety of missions, or serving as a base from which variants can be produced to fill specialized roles. Examples include the replacement of many different aircraft by the F-35 Lightning II
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...

; and the production of the Stryker
Stryker
The IAV Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled, 4-wheel-drive , armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III and produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, in use by the United States Army. The vehicle is named for two American servicemen who posthumously received the Medal of Honor:...

 armored vehicle, which serves as a base for a wide array of variants.

It may be noted that the Navy is already some steps toward a CSA, rather than having a completely different and separate aircraft type for each support mission. The C-2 Greyhound is a derivative of the E-2 Hawkeye, and the two aircraft have significant parts commonality
Commonality
Aviation commonality describes the economic and logistic benefits of operating a standardized fleet of aircraft that share common parts, training requirements, or other characteristics. Commonality lowers the cost of operating a fleet of aircraft by reducing the quantity and variety of spare parts...

. The ES-3 Shadow was a derivative of the S-3 Viking. And the S-3 Viking fills at least three different roles, not just one.

The Navy seems to favor the role of EW to be filled by converted attack aircraft. The EA-6B Prowler
EA-6 Prowler
The Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, mid-wing electronic warfare aircraft modified from the basic A-6 Intruder airframe. The EA-6B has been in service with the U.S...

, based on the A-6 Intruder
A-6 Intruder
The Grumman A-6 Intruder was an American, twin jet-engine, mid-wing attack aircraft built by Grumman Aerospace. In service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps between 1963 and 1997, the Intruder was designed as an all-weather medium attack aircraft to replace the piston-engined A-1 Skyraider...

, is slated to be replaced by the EA-18G Growler, based on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a twin-engine carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft. The F/A-18E single-seat variant and F/A-18F tandem-seat variant are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet. The Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm gun and can carry air-to-air...

. (Also note the U.S. Air Force's since retired EF-111 Raven EW aircraft, based on the F-111 Aardvark
General Dynamics F-111
The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" was a medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft that also filled the roles of strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare in its various versions. Developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics, it first entered service in 1967 with the...

 fighter-bomber.) Moreover, the Super Hornet is also capable of serving as an aerial refueler for other Hornets, Super Hornets, Prowlers and Growlers. While these airframes were not designed in advance for the support role, their use is nonetheless evidence that the US military prefers versatility and multi-capability in its vehicles, and to avoid designing a new platform for each possible role unless it is necessary.

Such trends would seem to point toward adopting the CSA as in line with current policy priorities and needs.

Arguments Against a CSA

Some potential arguments against the CSA would include:
  • Developing modern military aircraft, particularly carrier aircraft, is an expensive process, and the cost of creating a new aircraft to serve as a CSA may substantially erode or entirely eliminate the cost savings that commonality provides.

  • Current support aircraft are serving well, and in many cases are years away from their expected end of service. Therefore there is not only no need to replace current aircraft, but doing so would in fact be wasting money because the full benefit of current aircraft has not been realized yet. Furthermore, when current aircraft are considered worn out, more of the same could perhaps be manufactured as replacements. The only exception is the S-3 Viking
    S-3 Viking
    The Lockheed S-3 Viking is a four-seat twin-engine jet aircraft that was used by the U.S. Navy to identify, track, and destroy enemy submarines. In the late 1990s, the S-3B's mission focus shifted to surface warfare and aerial refueling. The Viking also provided electronic warfare and surface...

    , which has been retired from front-line operational service aboard aircraft carriers without replacement.

  • The design compromises involved in creating such a generalized, multi-purpose aircraft risk creating a "jack of all trades and master of none"; a plane that can do many things, but none of them particularly well, and perhaps not as well as the planes it replaces.

Conclusion and Future Prospects

The Navy is still studying the CSA idea, but has not committed to it. The impending introduction of the EA-18G Growler may be a sign that the Navy is leaning against the CSA; or perhaps simply that the CSA, if adopted, will not be filling the EW role.

External links

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