September
23, 2008: The U.S. Navy has developed a
new USV (unmanned surface vessel) to be used by its LCS (Littoral Combat Ships)
for anti-submarine warfare. Officially called the 11-meter Fleet class
Anti-Submarine Warfare Unmanned Surface Vehicle (ASWUSV), the 39 foot long
boats weigh 8.5 tons and can carry 2.5 tons of sensors and other equipment. The
USV can move up to 63 kilometers an hour and stay at sea for up to 24 hours.
Most of the time it would be moving slowly, using its sonar to search for subs.
The ASWUSV is equipped with GPS and a computerized navigation system that
allows it to automatically run search patterns. Thus the sailors controlling
the boat remotely, can move it to an area that helicopter or aircraft dropped
sonobuoys have picked up a contact, and
pursue it more intensively with the more powerful sensors it has on board. Such
pattern searching, worked out with algorithms derived from experience with what
subs can do, have been a successful tactic since World War II.
While two of
these ASWUSVs can be carried by LCS ships, the boats can also be used from
shore stations. Apparently the first ones to see service will be sent to the
Persian Gulf in the next three years, to help keep the Straits of Hormuz free
of Iranian submarines. The ASWUSV also carries vidcams and radar, to assist in
avoiding collisions with other ships, and to keep Iranian gunboats from
capturing or damaging one.
The ASWUSV
was developed based on experience with an earlier design, the Spartan Scout.
This is a two ton, 22 foot long, radio controlled boat. It is armed with a .50
caliber machine-gun and a number of sensors (mainly day and night vidcams.)
This USV has been used for harbor reconnaissance and security. The Spartan
Scout has a powerful navigation system, and is able to operate without an
operator (by using GPS to move between specified locations.) Spartan Scout is
also designed to use different sets of equipment for different missions
(detecting mines, Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance,
Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection, destroying threats with the machine-gun, and
Antisubmarine Warfare.) Spartan Scout can stay out for up to 48 hours,
depending on how much high speed (it can hit up to 80 kilometers an hour)
running is done. It also has a loudspeaker and microphones, so that the
operator, who is usually so far away that he can't see the USV) can converse
with crewmen on small ships. Spartan Scout was particularly useful when it got
its first tryout in the Persian Gulf during late 2003. There are lots of small
boats moving about, some of them up to no good. An Arab linguist on the mother ship
was able to interrogate suspicious boats the Spartan Scout ran down. The
civilian sailors were somewhat taken aback when they were interrogated by this
Arab speaking boat that had no one aboard. While Spartan Scout was developed
primarily to work with the new LCS (Littoral Combat Ship), every ship now wants
one or more of them, just for port security. Others are interested as well,
including The development team includes the U.S. Army, port managers worldwide,
and even France.
