Revolution Underway In Naval Surface Warfare

Sferrin

Sferrin

ACCESS: USAP
Senior Member
Joined
3 June 2011
Messages
18,341
Reaction score
12,247
"NEWTOWN, Conn. --- Two radical weapons will revolutionize naval warfare in the second decade of the 21st century, according to Forecast International's new analysis, "The Market for Naval Surface Warfare Systems." Lasers will be tasked with anti-aircraft, anti-missile, and anti-small-craft roles, while rail guns will give surface ships an entirely new dimension of ship-killing firepower.

"Probably the only way to defend against these weapons is not to be there when they get used," said Stuart Slade, senior naval analyst at Forecast International."

. . .

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/165303/a-revolution-is-underway-in-naval-surface-warfare.html
 
covert_shores said:
food for thought.

Can you fire a laser through a periscope-like design?
Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely, already has been done on a UK test vessel for fleet defence / self defence measures against optical observations.
 
Most beam directors by definition are made up of a series of mirrors, so a periscope apparatus is suitable provided you can get the final gimbal stuff on the top installed, can somehow keep the main lens clean/dry, and can tolerate a fairly large diameter periscope shaft.

One could cheat with a beam director of large diameter riding above the wave line while the periscope shaft is smaller, but the wake from the setup will still stick out like a sore thumb, and the beam director would have a hard time being radar stealthy. As a defensive weapon against maritime patrol aircraft, maybe, but ASROC style torpedoes, or those 100 mile torpedoes people are talking about, it will provide no real shield.

But in the age of lasers, line of sight is line of death, so NLOS/standoff weapons come into the fore until laser defenses can deal with smaller target swarms.


The reverse of blue laser LIDARS finding subs from aircraft, may mean aircraft may have a laser means of attacking subs (though I guess the best target of merit is the propeller?)
 
Attacking a submerged submarine with a laser would have a lot of problems unless we're talking really really powerful lasers. But in the near-ish term ASW aircraft could use a lasers to destroy or at least impair communications masts, snorkels, radars, pretty much anything else the sub might want to stick above the surface to do its job.
 
Moose said:
Attacking a submerged submarine with a laser would have a lot of problems unless we're talking really really powerful lasers. But in the near-ish term ASW aircraft could use a lasers to destroy or at least impair communications masts, snorkels, radars, pretty much anything else the sub might want to stick above the surface to do its job.
Click to expand...

But being in an ASW helo/patrol aircraft when a periscope with a 100kw laser lights up would not be a fun experience.
 
http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/07/20/the_us_navys_cruise_missile_nightmare__107640.html
 
covert_shores said:
food for thought.

Can you fire a laser through a periscope-like design?
Click to expand...
Yes, BUT.

You want a very large diameter final mirror to control how much heat that laser dumps inside itself. Any given mirror might be 99.9% reflective, but 1MW laser means 1kw on a small mirror.

The Boeing ABL used relatively small mirrors to bounce through the laser turret, and then expanded to a 1.5m primary targeting mirror.
 
jsport said:
www.defenseone.com

Money alone won’t fix the Navy’s shipbuilding woes, lawmaker says

Correcting submarine program deficits will require creative thinking about workforce challenges, not just more money, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said.
www.defenseone.com www.defenseone.com
Click to expand...
No, money won’t fix it, but it will go along way.
As I’ve said in another thread if we start utilizing smaller shipyards now, to build small vessels, we’ll build the skill and experience base, and can justify investing money in those other yards so they can work on larger ships in the future.

I’d start with a fleet of theoretical MKVII boats. 95-100ft long, 75tons or less.

Armament would be the same as the MKVIs, but the extra size would would be primarily for extra fuel tank size, and cargo/gear stowage. Vessels like these could do minor supply runs, PAX transfers between islands, etc in the SCS during wartime. During peacetime they can run patrols in the gulf and and around Somalia.

After a few years of building those, DoD can invest in expanding those yards, and then begin building larger more dedicated blue water vessels.

We have an untapped shipyard in WA that’s building merchants, we can use them to reinvigorate the MSC fleet, and again after a few years potentially and some more investment, and maybe throw a few LCS or Connie’s to them for repairs.
 
jsport said:
www.usni.org

The Mk VI is Dead—Long Live the Mk VII

The Navy needs small ships for a variety of missions.
www.usni.org www.usni.org
Click to expand...
Their notional MK VII idea would be the second step in getting these other yards up to speed on warships, after my version.

They could also escort the new low profile supply USVs that are being looked at. If they get damaged by PLAN USVs or small patrol craft/maritime militia, once safe the USVs can be offloaded onto the decks of their escorts and the mission continues on with minimal losses to supplies.
 
wouldnt there need to be more deck space on the MkVII and a crane?
 
jsport said:
wouldnt there need to be more deck space on the MkVII and a crane?
Click to expand...
I don’t know why you think there wouldn’t be enough deck space, and by crane I assume you mean boat davit, and not a long necked bird. In either case both are unnecessary.
 
Just for reference if we added 15ft in length to bring the boat length to 100ft and added 4.5 ft in beam to bring it up to 25ft wide, that would provide 375 sq ft of extra deck space compared to a mk vi. That is roughly the size of a single car garage.
Widening it to 25ft would also allow for a second rhib to be stowed on the boat ramp along side.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom