Sea Technology

NOV 2015

The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community

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Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments www.sea-technology.com November 2015 / st 7 editorial SEA TECHNOLOGY® I N C L U D I N G U N D E RS EA TEC H N O L O G Y The Industry's Recognized Authority for Design, Engineering and Application of Equipment and Services in the Global Ocean Community Charles H. Bussmann Founder and Publisher 1924-1999 publisher C. Amos Bussmann managing editor Aileen Torres-Bennett assistant editor Christopher Johnson editorial consultant Charles W. Covey production manager Russell S. Conward assistant design/ Joshua Ortega website manager advertising Susan M. Ingle Owen service manager ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES: HEADQUARTERS C. Amos Bussmann 1600 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1010 Arlington, VA 22209 Tel: (703) 524-3136 • FAX: (703) 841-0852 e-mail: seatechads@sea-technology.com NORTH AMERICA, EAST COAST Clive Bullard Bullard Communications 107 Lane Gate Road Cold Spring, NY 10516 Tel: (845) 231-0846 • FAX: (845) 265-9695 e-mail: cbullards@cs.com NORTH AMERICA,WEST COAST John Sabo Barbara Sabo Gregory Sabo John Sabo Associates 447 Herondo St. #305 Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 Tel: (310) 374-2301 • FAX: (310) 400-5635 e-mail: bsabo@jsaboassoc.com EUROPE John Gold John F. Gold & Associates "Highview" 18a Aultone Way Sutton, Surrey, SM1 3LE, England Phone/FAX Nat'l: 020-8641-7717 Int'l: +44-20-8641-7717 e-mail: johnfgold@gmail.com Sea Technology back issues available on microform. Contact: NA Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998 1-800-420-6272 COMPASS PUBLICATIONS, INC. 1600 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1010 Arlington, VA 22209-2510 Tel: (703) 524-3136 FAX: (703) 841-0852 oceanbiz@sea-technology.com www.sea-technology.com publishers of: Sea Technology Commercial Fisheries News Fish Farming News Commercial Marine Directory Fish Farmers Phone Book/Directory Sea Technology Buyers Guide/Directory Sea Tech e-News Celebrating more than 50 years of serving the global ocean community - Since 1963 - The New Era Of Undersea Warfare U ndersea warfare, as readers of these pages know, is one of America's most signifcant military advantages. U.S. political and military leaders depend on U.S. submarines to gather the most sensitive intelligence and be the nation's frst line of attack against adversaries from Libya to North Korea to China. Using their silence and ability to remain submerged for months at a time, they can avoid the air defenses, attack boats, and cruise and ballistic missiles America's rivals are felding in their growing "anti-access/area-denial" (A2/AD) networks. But this advantage is not permanent. America's adversaries are taking their A2/ AD networks undersea to reduce the ability of U.S. submarines to operate with im- punity close to their shores. They will be aided in this effort by new anti-submarine warfare (ASW) technologies emerging from the convergence of improved sensors and "big data". Active and passive sonar arrays will become more accurate at lower frequencies that can be heard at much longer ranges, and improved data process- ing will enable sonar systems to fnd and precisely locate targets with much less information. Similarly, nonacoustic ASW techniques such as wake, chemical and radionuclide detection will become better able to pull the "needle" of a subma- rine's signature out of the ocean's "haystack". The U.S. Navy will need new operational concepts and new technologies to maintain its ability to gather intelligence and attack enemies from undersea. As the risk to submarines rises, the feet will have to rely more on UUVs or systems to conduct operations close to adversary coasts. This will shift submarines from being frontline platforms like fghter aircraft toward managing operations over a wide area like aircraft carriers. This shift has signifcant implications for how we equip the next generation of attack submarines. Their designs should prioritize payload volume and capacity for unmanned vehicles and long-range weapons, as well as their capability for com- munications, analysis, and control of undersea and other forces. These attributes are different than the speed or stealth that was favored to various degrees in the Los Angeles, Seawolf, and Virginia-class submarines of today's feet. The increased reliance on unmanned systems will also require new approaches and technologies to use them for what would have previously been submarine mis- sions. For example, smaller UUVs such as the Hydroid REMUS series or the Navy's Mk-18 and large displacement UUV (LDUUV) will continue to have limited range and endurance for some time, so they will require "gas stations" where they can recharge, download sensor data, or receive orders from shore. The Offce of Naval Research (ONR) Forward Deployed Energy and Communication Outpost (FDECO) program seeks to develop this capability, enabling a group of UUVs to sustain op- erations in an area without having to return often to shore or a host platform. FDECO is part of a larger effort to establish an "Undersea Constellation" of sea- bed sensors and cables, undersea vehicles, and undersea communication systems that will enable coordination of undersea operations in hostile waters. Stressing missions such as deploying this constellation to an operating area, delivering mines close to enemy ports, or conducting long-term surveillance missions, however, will require a combination of undersea endurance, payload capacity and reliability. Today, only submarines provide these capabilities. In tomorrow's high-threat areas, these operations may require an extra-large UUV (XLUUV)—one the Navy is not yet developing. To maintain its undersea advantage into the future, the U.S. Navy will need to focus its efforts regarding undersea systems. Over the last two decades, a large number of undersea programs were started in the hope some of them would yield operationally useful systems. But now is the time to craft new concepts for undersea operations and begin building the family of systems to implement them. To delay risks letting America's adversaries steal a march in this vital area of warfare. ST

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