Non-Subscriber Extract
New-generation USVs offer increased mission diversity
By Richard Scott
25 March 2008
The past decade has seen burgeoning interest in the use of unmanned surface vehicle (USV) systems as adjuncts or alternatives to manned maritime platforms.
USVs offer the potential - and in some cases the demonstrated ability - to reduce risk to manned forces, function as force multipliers, perform tasks that manned vehicles cannot, and drive down mission costs.
In fact, the use of unmanned surface craft at sea is by no means new, with radio-controlled drones having served for many years as target tugs for surface ship and aerial gunnery. Some navies have in the past decade introduced remotely controlled influence minesweeping systems to help 'take the man out of the minefield'.
But it is the development of a new generation of increasingly autonomous USVs for missions as diverse as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), maritime security and communications relay that has awoken naval force planners to the long-term potential offered by unmanned platforms in the networked maritime battlespace of the future.
Perhaps most pertinent in the near term is the application of USVs to provide a force protection (FP) capability against potential small boat and/or suicide threats, and their use in port inspection and protection.
This broad range of roles has latterly been recognised by the US Navy (USN) in its USV Master Plan, the first edition of which was published in July 2007. Chartered by the Program Executive Officer for Littoral and Mine Warfare (PEO LMW), it provides the guide for USV development to "effectively meet the US Navy's strategic planning and Fleet objectives and the force transformation goals of the [US] Department of Defense [DoD] to the year 2020".
The 'USV Vision' articulated in the master plan states that USVs "will augment current and future platforms to deliver enhanced steady-state and surge capability to help deter the enemy at the regional, transnational and global levels. USVs will be highly automated to reduce communication/data exchange requirements and operator loading. They will deploy and retrieve devices, gather, transmit or act on all types of information, and engage targets with minimal risk or burden to US and coalition forces".
Reflecting this vision, the USV Master Plan sets out to define USV capabilities for the near, mid- and far terms; establish levels of performance and USV 'classes' aligned with capabilities; and evaluate technology needs to assess current readiness and recommend future investments. Its analyses have also identified seven high-priority USV missions to support Joint Capability Areas, these being (in priority order): mine warfare (MIW); ASW; maritime security; surface warfare; special operations forces (SOF) support; electronic warfare; and maritime interdiction operations (MIO) support.
The conclusion of the master plan is that these seven USV Joint Capability Area missions can be accomplished in three standard vehicle classes and one non-standard vehicle class. These comprise:
- the 'X class' - a small, non-standard class of systems capable of supporting SOF requirements and MIO missions. It would provide a 'low end' ISR capability to support manned operations, being launched from small manned craft such as the 11 m rigid inflatable boat (RIB) or the combat rubber raiding craft;
- the 'Harbor class', which is based on the USN's Standard 7 m RIB and focused on the maritime security mission, with a robust ISR capability and a mix of lethal and non-lethal armament. It could be supported by the majority of the fleet since it uses standard 7 m interfaces;
- the 'Snorkeler class', a ~7 m semi-submersible vehicle that supports mine-countermeasures (MCM) towing (search) missions and ASW (Maritime Shield) and is also capable of supporting special missions that can take advantage of its relatively stealthy profile; and
- the 'Fleet class', which will be a purpose-built USV consistent with the handling equipment and weight limitations of the current 11 m RIB. Variants of the Fleet class will support MCM sweep, protected-passage ASW and 'high end' surface warfare missions.
Image: Rafael's Protector USV (Rafael)