Navy 'considering' future maritime drones

Navy 'considering' future maritime drones

 

03 August 2012

 

The Ministry of Defence is 'exploring' plans to develop new maritime drones to carry out its "dirty, dangerous and repetitive" tasks at sea, it has been confirmed.

A Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) report seen by The Guardian asked defence firms to help develop new drones for "mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and missile defence" as well as counter-piracy operations.

The roles envisioned also include "remote sensing, communications relay, [and] delivery of effects such as the deployment of weapons or countermeasures."

The drones would enable a reduced Royal Navy manned fleet to "continue to use the sea with security and persistence," the documents say.

"Unmanned systems are being considered as a potential option to aid in the delivery of a range of different maritime tasks given the range of potential threats and increasing demands on the smaller number of highly capable manned platforms in which much of the UK capability is currently focused," The Guardian newspaper reported.

Lieutenant Commander Kevin Giles, writing within the documents, said the navy sought drones for "dirty, dangerous and repetitive" tasks.

Underwater warfare specialist Iain Shepherd, quoted in The Guardian, said: "The MoD is aware of the potential for UUVs. They have been deploying them in the Gulf on mine-hunting exercises and there is a huge amount of interest in other areas. In submarine warfare, for instance, it would not be too difficult to develop - at a low cost - expendable devices that can be left in the sea to form barriers, and they wouldn't expend any power until they needed to."

Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a former director general of the MoD's development, concepts and doctrine centre, said: "The whole area of UUVs is about to explode … it could be as big in the maritime sector as it is in airspace. They could be used for clearing mines for a nuclear submarine, or the covert mapping of important harbours. A UUV could find a submarine, attach itself to it and then explode … there is no limit to what could be done."

"You use UUVs for work that is dull, dangerous, dirty and dodgy. There may well be problems because you would want to penetrate territorial seas, I'd be amazed if you didn't. Some of these things could be used in six months. When there is an operational need for something, there is often a way of delivering it."

Former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West urged caution, but said that surveillance, reconnaissance and mine-hunting were the areas where the drones could excel.

"Using UAVs against a terrorist with no capability is one thing, but using them against a sophisticated enemy is something else," he said. "Communications can be intercepted or cut, or taken over. Controlling UAVs requires radio links, and these are unbelievably vulnerable."

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Exploring innovation in maritime defence is part of the work we do to exploit the latest technology and ensure the Royal Navy is best equipped to meet future requirements.

"We are considering options for how we can use unmanned systems to support the vast range of future naval capabilities that include Type 45 destroyers, global combat ships, Astute class submarines and the two Queen Elizabeth class carriers that together with Lightning II jets will provide world-leading carrier strike from 2020."

 

Source: defencemanagement.com

 

03 August 2012

"Using UAVs against a terrorist with no capability is one thing, but using them against a sophisticated enemy is something else, Communications can be intercepted or cut, or taken over. Controlling UAVs requires radio links, and these are unbelievably vulnerable."

To add to Lord West's comments: We have seen Al Qaeda tapping into US drones over Iraq and Afghanistan and seeing the same images as US operators were looking at. It is believed that the recent US RQ-170 Sentinel drone loss over Iran was due to the Iranians taking control and blocking US control despite US denials (which they would).

 

In the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008 the Georgian Hermes 450 drones (similar to the new British Army watchkeeper) were out of operation after the first day of the war and those that had flown on the first day were all shot down by the Russians.

Conclusion: drones are very vulnerable and we should be aware of that when making choices which should not be made by accountants looking at savings over manned aviation!
Graham - High Wycombe

03 August 2012

The point is taken Graham, although I do think that in the future we will see less and less direct human piloting, which does seem logical given the physical constraints of the human body.

Whether or not we will eventually see autonomous AI planes is anyone's guess...
Laskovar - UK

06 August 2012

Laskovar - UK

It needs to be a mix for some decades yet with the option of manned operation when that's best or the only option.

I think UUV's offer much better potential particularly if they have a long range lightweight cable to allow it to be remotely piloted. They could be lethal in finding and destroying submersibles.
Graham - High Wycombe

 

Source: defencemanagement.com

 

oldmarine