The https://www.foxnews.com/category/tech/topics/us-navy" rel="nofollow - Navy has begun building new weapons to massively increase attack options for its https://www.foxnews.com/tech/us-navys-virginia-attack-submarines-will-now-fire-nuclear-weapons-marking-dramatic-shift" rel="nofollow - Virginia-class attack submarine ,
a move that is expected to change the mission scope for the boats and
enable more extensive offensive strike possibilities, improving the
Navy’s armed defense of its surface fleet.
The
weapons increase, which has been progressing with prototyping for
several years now, will lengthen the submarines with a new section to
rev up the firepower from 12 to 40 on-board Tomahawk missiles. Speaking
at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space Symposium earlier this year, Capt.
Christopher Hanson, Program Manager, Virginia Class Submarine, indicated
that formal construction of Block V will begin this year and continue
through at least 2023. Most recently, the construction efforts have
recently been extended through a "follow-on" deal between the Navy and
BAE systems.
In
addition to an increased weapons capacity, the Block 5 Virginia
submarines will be equipped with a host of new mission-performing
technologies.
Over the years, senior Navy weapons developers have
explained some of the key areas of modernization focus; these include
new coating materials to make the submarines stealthier, new antennas
for longer-range, more accurate undersea surveillance missions and new
“quieting” engine propulsion technology, among other things.
All
of these technologies, in fact, already exist in the USS South Dakota
attack submarine -- the most advanced submarine ever to be delivered to
the Navy. The new boat, which is now operational, began as a prototype,
test-bed platform to evolve these new technologies. What all of these
USS South Dakota innovations also amount to is that, Hanson said, they
are informing both Block V as well as current conceptual discussions now
underway regarding a future generation Virginia-class submarine now
only in early conceptual development - called Block VI. Block VI,
according to Hanson, is not likely to begin to materialize until the
mid-2020s.
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“Block
5 has some additional equipment we are developing, which will be added
to the USS South Dakota. Our expectation is that this is going to
continue into Block V as we determine what Block VI will look like. We
can’t say what exactly is going to be on a submarine 10-years from now,
but we expect to continue that,” Hanson said.
Yet another area of
innovation quite likely to lay a foundation for Block V includes Block
IIIs “Fly-by-Wire” navigational controls; instead of using mechanically
operated hydraulic controls, the Fly-by-Wire system uses a joystick,
digital moving maps and various adaptations of computer automation to
navigate the boat. This means that computer systems can control the
depth and speed of the submarine, while a human remains in a command and
control role. It seems almost self-evident, given rapid advances in AI
and computer automation, that Blocks V and VI will include a new
generation of these kinds of technologies.
Also, according to
Congressional testimony in 2016, cited in a report from SeaPower
magazine, former PEO Submarines Rear Adm. Michael E. Jabaley Jr., the
USS South Dakota includes a DARPA-engineered Hybrid Propulsor “which
brings new acoustic advantages.”
From a technical or engineering
perspective, the Navy is building the submarine to enable modularity, a
method of building a boat with software and hardware foundations able to
adjust as needed. For instance, while attack submarines currently fire
Torpedoes and Tomahawks, it is entirely feasible, if not likely, that
new submarine-launched weapons will exist 10 years from now.
“It
is all about how we bring change and increase capability. Capability
comes in two ways. One is the design and how we build the submarine, and
another piece is how we have interface requirements so that future
payloads that may only now be in the powerpoint stage, can be
accommodated,” Hanson said.
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A
Naval War College Review essay, interestingly, aligns with Hanson’s
comment about the need to engineer for future technologies to permit
quick integration of new systems. The essay describes it as “yet-unenvisioned
equipment to be installed to counter unimagined threats, and an
insistence that core enabling characteristics such as stealth never be
compromised.” (From “The Submarine as a Case Study in Transformation: Implications for Future Investment,” James H. Patton Jr, 2005)
Also,
from essentially a “lone wolf” a decade ago, the submarine is now
nearly universally accepted as a key node within network-centric
warfare, the purveyor of “undersea dominance,” and an essential element
of Sea Power 21 (a previously articulated Navy attack vision emphasizing
information dominance),” the 2005 Naval War College Review essay
writes.
With this essay in mind, there is a substantial precedent
for of this kind of modular approach, looking at the multi-year
trajectory of Virginia-class development; each Block has incorporated
several impactful new technologies not yet present when the previous
boats were built. For example, unlike Blocks I and II, Virginia-class
Block III boats significantly increase firepower with the introduction
of what’s called Virginia Payload Tubes adding new missile tubes able to
fire 6 Tomahawks each. Block III also includes a new Large Aperture Bow
“horseshoe-shaped” sonar, which switches from an “air-backed’ spherical
sonar to a “water-backed” array, making it easier to maintain pressure,
according to a 2014 report in “NavSource Online.”
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The
LAB sonar, which is both more precise and longer range than its
predecessor, also advances the curve in that it introduces both a
passive and “active” sonar system. Passive systems are used to essential
track or “listen” for acoustic pings to identify enemy movements. This
can help conceal a submarine's position by not emitting a signal, yet
can lack the specificity of an “active” sonar system which sends an
acoustic “ping” forward. The submarine’s technology then analyzes the
return signal to deliver a “rendering” of an enemy object to include its
contours, speed and distance. In concept, sonar works similar to radar
except that it sends acoustic signals instead of electronic ones.
When
it comes to tailoring submarines for Special Operations missions, it
would not be surprising if elements of Block IIIs “Lock Out Trunk” were
built-upon or expanded for Block V & VI; the Lock Out Trunk
introduces a new specialized area which fills up with water for
departure, enabling SOF forces to more easily and quietly exit the
submarine while remaining submerged.
The technical elements of
undersea command and control, quite naturally, are being engineered with
a mind to an expected increased use of underwater drones. The Navy is
now moving quickly with efforts to build an entire new fleet of UUVs
able to destroy mines, conduct lower risk forward surveillance, deliver
supplies or even fire weapons with a “human-in-the-loop.” Capt. Pete
Small, the Program Manager for Unmanned Maritime Systems, addressed this
phenomenon at Sea Air Space and said the service’s now in development
Orca XLUUV - Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle - may be configured
to fire torpedoes.
Most of all, it seems apparent, some plans for
Block V and Block VI are likely to both remain flexible and explore a
wide range of options.
“We have a CONOPS *Concept of Operations”
ground that brings in operators of other vehicles on a periodic basis so
we can show them what we are looking at,” Hanson said.
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Hanson
indicated that the Navy’s submarine production capacity is quickly
improving and that these Block V boats were on the fast-track. “I like
aggressive schedules because it is how you get people to perform well,”
Hanson said.