The navy last week sortied from San Diego a Flotilla of manned and unmanned
surface vessels and submarines. Crews positioned unmanned aerial
vehicles to support the ships.
The stealth cruiser uSS Michael Mansour
sporting what appeared to be an
experimental communication system on its
flight deck, led the other ships from
destroyer squadron 21 into the pacific
ocean. What followed was a series of
experiments and mock battles combining
manned and unmanned systems. Robot boats sailing alongside near-shore
littoral combat ships, an attack
submarine launching an underwater drone UAVs flying overhead the whole time.
The so-called fleet problem was a
preview of the navy's possible future as
it reconfigures for high-tech warfare
against chinese forces. The people's liberation army is
deploying anti-access systems including
submarines, bombers and missiles that
could make the western pacific a very
dangerous place for american ships. The navy is betting on drones to help
solve the anti-access problem.
The service has proposed to add hundreds
of unmanned ships and submarines to its
existing fleet of around 300 man vessels. The idea is for robots to scout for
chinese ships extending the us fleet
sensor range and helping manned shooters
destroyers and submarines, stay outside
the pla's own engagement zone. Great plan, would it work in the real
world? The april fleet problem is a
strong indication it just might.
After
several days of experimentation the navy
on sunday staged an impressive test of
arguably its most promising manned
unmanned concept. The amphibious ship USS Anchorage
disgorged a barge simulating an enemy
warship. The barge apparently carried emitters
duplicating radios, radars and other
electronics.
The destroyer USS John Finn stood off
over the horizon. Exactly how far away is
a secret and initiated a hunt for the
pretend enemy ship. UAVs and robot boats crisscrossed the
ocean to avoid detection they kept their
active sensors off. Instead they used
their passive electronic receivers to
listen to the enemy's own electronic
emissions.
The drones pinpointed the barge and
passed the data to a satellite which
relayed it to John Finn. The destroyer fired an sm-6 missile, the
5 million missile which can hit targets
on the sea or in the air, struck the
barge, well beyond the line of sight, according to the navy.
It's unclear just how far the missile
traveled. in theory the supersonic SM-6
can strike targets as far away as 300
miles. The distance involved is one reason to
celebrate. The other reason is that none
of the vehicles involved in the shoot
ever turned on the radars. They remained as stealthy as possible
throughout the engagement.
Experts agree
range and stealth are prerequisites to
fighting chinese forces. The april fleet problem indicates the
u.s navy is taking these qualities
seriously. If there's a weakness in the navy's
emerging manned unmanned team its
communication. If robots, satellites and manned ships
can't talk together they can't fight
together. The fleet problem highlights the
importance of links between sensors, said Eric Wertheim author of combat fleets of
the world.
It's one thing to connect robots and
manned ships and sink a barge in a test. It's another thing to pull off the same
trick thousands of miles from u.s shores
in the chaos of battle with an enemy who
has their own tricks.
But you can't deploy new technology and
tactics if you don't test them first. The fleet problem is one part of a
process that could end with the us fleet
sailing into battle behind a deadly
armada of stealthy drones. This is a really positive first sign, Wertheim said.
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