Combat search and rescue aircraft effectiveness

Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) is inherently reactive: planners do not know a priori, the numbers, locations, and dispositions of the personnel that must be recovered. Given these uncertainties, it is possible to measure the relationship between CSAR aircraft performance and mission effectiveness? In this paper, George Thompson presents a framework for measuring the impact of aircraft speed, unrefueled range, survivability, and reliability on CSAR effectiveness in major conflict scenarios. The method is applied to a comparison of the H-60 helicopter and V-22 tiltrotor. This approach is potentially applicable to other challenging analysis problems; for example, comparing alternatives for attacking time-critical, pop-up targets.