USV Roadmap
WHERE DOES SOF FIT IN?
The nation is faced, currently and for the foreseeable future, with a multitude of military challenges that are unlike any seen in recent history. The enemy is diverse, not easily recognizable, and operates in atypical ways. These asymmetric threats have the ability to do great harm to our maritime forces and infrastructure, and the Navy must have the ability to address and defeat them in support of national Defense objectives, while continuing to execute its traditional roles.
Unmanned systems have the potential, and in some cases, the demonstrated ability, to reduce risk to manned forces, to provide the force multiplication necessary to accomplish their missions, to perform tasks which manned vehicles cannot, and to do so in a way that is affordable to the nation.
The Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Master Plan was chartered by the Program Executive Officer for Littoral and Mine Warfare (PEO (LMW)). It provides the guide for USV development to effectively meet the Navy’s strategic planning and fleet objectives and the force transformation goals of the DoD to the year 2020. Plan development was built on the results from workshops conducted at the Naval War College and the Fleet ASW Training Center in late 2004 and early 2006, respectively, with major analysis, synthesis and development efforts being conducted by a USV Master Plan Core Team.
VISION
The USV vision is: To develop and field cost-effective USVs to enhance naval and joint capability to support: homeland defense, the global war on terror, irregular warfare, and conventional campaigns. USVs will augment current and future platforms to deliver enhanced steady-state and surge capability to help deter the enemy at the regional, transnational, and global levels. USVs will be highly automated to reduce communication/data exchange requirements and operator loading. They will deploy and retrieve devices, gather, transmit, or act on all types of information, and engage targets with minimal risk or burden to U.S. and coalition Forces.
In support of this vision, the USV Master Plan has the following objectives:
• Define USV capabilities for the near, mid and far terms
• Establish levels of performance and USV classes aligned with capabilities
• Evaluate technology needs to assess current readiness and recommend future investments
CLASSES OF USVS
The X-Class is a small, non-standard class of systems capable of supporting SOF requirements and maritime interdiction operations missions. It provides a low-end intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) capability to support manned operations and is launched from small manned craft such as the 11 meter rigid inflatable boat (RIB) or the combat rubber raiding craft.
The Harbor Class is based on the Navy standard 7m RIB and is focused on the maritime security mission, with a robust ISR capability and a mix of lethal and non-lethal armament. The Harbor Class can be supported by the majority of the Navy fleet, since it will use the standard 7m interfaces.
The Snorkeler Class is a roughly 7m semi-submersible vehicle (SSV) that supports MCM towing (search) missions, ASW (maritime shield) and is also capable of supporting special missions that can take advantage of its relatively stealthy profile.
The Fleet Class will be a purposebuilt USV, consistent with the handling equipment and weight limitations of the current 11m RIB. Variants of the Fleet Class will support MCM sweep, protected passage ASW and high-end surface warfare missions.
SOF SUPPORT OBJECTIVE
The two primary purposes of using USVs to support SOF missions are: (1) ISR (standard and non-standard sensors), and (2) transportation and material support.
SOF SUPPORT BACKGROUND
In the ISR role, USVs can provide persistent coverage and effective support for SOF mission areas that would preclude conventional platforms, providing early warning and maintaining a perimeter in areas of high risk to personnel. Many mission scenarios utilizing small arms as well as other lethal and non-lethal weapons could be effectively performed by USVs. In this sense, this mission area bears a lot in common with the MS mission.
USVs can also effectively provide mission support in high-risk areas or where hazards to navigation or personnel preclude conventional CONOPS. USVs could be launched from a safe standoff distance, transit to the area of interest, and return with or transmit subsets of the data collected. Other options include planting stand-alone sensor packages, dropping off advance or real-time resupply packages (ammo, food, fresh water, batteries), and providing maritime diversion, distraction or deception in support of the SOF mission.
SOF SUPPORT CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS
Riverine ISR
Due to the size and likely clandestine nature of the operations, small, lowobservable USVs will be required. Although perfect stealth in a physical, floating and mobile object is not realistic, there are technologies and techniques available to minimize vehicle observables. SOF personnel aboard a larger manned riverine craft launch a man-portable USV when entering an area of contention. The USV proceeds covertly to the area to be investigated in support of the mission and reports that data back to the operators in real time. Alternately, due to mission restrictions, it can collect the data and returns to the manned platform. Operating in this manner, the USV is essentially serving as a round-the-bend ISR platform.
Insertion/Extraction of SOF Personnel and/or Equipment
Serving as a logistical support asset, larger USVs could provide SOF with an alternative to utilizing manned platforms for these purposes. USVs could be prepositioned and lie in waiting for the appropriate time to provide support.
OTHER MISSIONS
U.S. SOF are legendarily innovative in adapting the systems and equipment at hand to fit emergent mission needs and environment. The modularity inherent in USVs can be a great asset in support mission innovation.
SOF SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING ISSUES
In the near term, the technology and engineering issues relating to USVs providing SOF support are the need to minimize the vehicle’s size and observability while maximizing power density and reliability. As with all USVs, suitable and reliable communication is an issue, especially in mission variants where real-time intelligence reach-back is used for intelligence analysis.
SOF USV applications will impose unique requirements on sensor integration and packaging due to size constraints:
• Environmental protection against the unusually harsh ocean environment in which they will operate
• Minimal observable cross-section (low detectability): visual, IR, radar, acoustic, other
• Packaging, especially for mastmounted sensors and antennas
• Modularity for mission innovation. ♦