Technology for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, 2000-2035: Becoming a 21st-Century Force Volume 7: Undersea Warfare (1997) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Mine Warfare
2 Mine Warfare
Pages 43-82
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 43... ...
The panel foresees an increasing number of instances where the Navy and Marine Corps will be required to operate freely in near-shore waters, and the forces at their disposal, including MCM forces, should be configured such that they are able to operate effectively in these environments. At the same time, during the projection period of this study (2000-2035)
|
From page 44... ...
activation or deactivation through acoustic or electromagnetic links. During the past 45 years, in spite of the very modest effort devoted to mine design the explosive charge carried by the typical mine has essentially doubled in energy output; its instrument section has been reduced from 20 percent of its volume to a space the size of a soda can through the adoption of modern electronics; its lethality range has increased from a few tens of feet athwart ship to a half mile through the use of mobile warheads; its logic systems have been made more resistant to countermeasures; and through the use of stealth technology, its ability to evade mine hunting sonars has increased.
|
From page 45... ...
The panel believes that these objectives can be achieved and that a balanced MCM force, organic to the fleet and capable of removing the mine threat in keeping with an assault timetable or power projection schedule, can be achieved at relatively modest cost by the year 2005. Further, the panel has identified technologies whose far-term development would provide the Navy and Marine Corps team with an effective MCM capability well into the mid-21st century.
|
From page 46... ...
The panel restricted its consideration mainly to sea mines and to mines and obstacles found in the surf zone and the craft landing zone. MINE COUNTERMEASURES: A VITAL CAPABILITY FOR FUTURE NAVAL MISSIONS The Navy of the future will be expected to maintain sea control; to transit and operate worldwide at will; to navigate restricted waters, open channels, and sea lanes; and to project power ashore.
|
From page 47... ...
3. Technologies that address primarily the very hostile mine detection and neutralization environment of the surf zone and the craft landing zone.
|
From page 48... ...
Battle Group and Task Force Organic MCM In a future where conflicts are likely to arise suddenly and unexpectedly, it will be necessary for naval forces to be capable of reacting swiftly and independently. Since the geographical locales of possible conflict are so widely dispersed, it will be impractical to create forward-based MCM forces.
|
From page 49... ...
Brute Force Mine and Obstacle Clearance There will be situations in which MCM operations that deal with one mine at a time cannot be conducted because of the density of the threat and lack of time or because normal MCM operations are slowed or ineffective due to the harshness of the environment, stealthiness of mines, or presence of buried mines. In these cases brute force methods of breaching will be required.
|
From page 50... ...
the placement of a foam causeway over a mine field. The Naval Studies Board Mine Countermeasures Technology4 study recommended a concept in which precisely positioned (to GPS-level accuracy)
|
From page 51... ...
Autonomous Networked Undersea Systems Advances in sensors, signal processing, and computational power will enable the development of autonomous and semiautonomous systems. In support of ISR, networked multiple undersea surveillance systems using small, autonomous undersea vehicles have significant potential for providing a covert mine surveillance, detection, and neutralization capability.
|
From page 52... ...
capable of detecting buried mines; and pulsed-power devices and biosensors will not be realized without a commitment to R&D. UUVs with intelligent control, long range, and endurance; networked underwater sensors; rigid foam causeways; small and stable surface platforms; and high-data-rate acoustic communications will not emerge without concomitant research.
|
From page 53... ...
The third and final objective is to select concepts that will add clearance speed and efficiency to the MCM system at minimal costs and that can be implemented in the near-term future. Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, considered as a whole, was the highest-priority recommendation of the Naval Studies Board Mine Countermeasures Technology report.6 A continuous, robust ISR effort targeted at potential mine threats can greatly enhance the efficiency of MCM operations by enabling accurate characterization of the threat prior to initiation of sweeping, hunting, and neutralization activities.
|
From page 54... ...
Integrating ISR into MCM operations may allow the interdiction of mines prior to planting (rules of engagement permitting) or the avoidance of a mined area entirely; failing both, it should allow MCM forces to be concentrated solely on mined areas of reasonably well-known characteristics.
|
From page 55... ...
Further, the deep scattering layer, which rises near the surface at night, has been demonstrated to adversely affect both hull-mounted and variable-depth sonars using mine hunting frequencies. The submarine, with its depth capability, may be less affected by these scatterers than will those reconnaissance systems tied to the surface, such as the Remote Minehunting System (RMS)
|
From page 56... ...
A field composed of buried mines would seriously degrade current mine hunting sonars and force an increased emphasis on slower and more laborious mine sweeping. A clandestine mine reconnaissance and countermeasures system (CMR/CS)
|
From page 57... ...
This technology requires further research before it can be considered for development. Complementary Systems The panel sees significant value in an airborne laser that is capable of rapidly conducting reconnaissance seaward of the surf zone against floating mines and moored mines (bottom mines if possible)
|
From page 58... ...
class mine hunting and mine sweeping ships, the Osprey (MHC-51) class coastal mine hunters, and the air MCM MH-53 helicopters.
|
From page 59... ...
nclude the following. The Navy's Magic Lantern Adaptation system, the Army's ASTAMID, and the Marine Corps' COBRA are all in the concept and development stages and are designed to detect mines in the surf zone, in the craft landing zone, and on land.
|
From page 60... ...
Further, there is no assurance that the mine has been neutralized, and, even if it has, a mine that looks like a mine on a mine hunting sonar is left to possibly create later confusion, along with an explosive charge weighing up to a thousand pounds that could later detonate by impact. Despite these limitations the SLQ-48 has unique capabilities and should be retained for neutralization of mines in deeper water such as straits, the outer continental shelf, and shallower parts of the continental rise.
|
From page 61... ...
As an adjunct, consideration should be given to providing airborne systems with a variable-depth mine hunting sonar so that a single helicopter can do mine detection, classification, and neutralization as do MCM ships. Cost trade-offs, not technology, will be the determinant.
|
From page 62... ...
Brute Force Breaching and Clearing the Surf and Craft Landing Zones Brute force methods are generally those techniques that attempt to remove or clear mines en masse, using a nondiscriminating force that can physically overcome or remove them as an effective threat. Brute force methods are needed when the threat is so dense and time lines are short, where friendly forces are denied access to a mined area that needs clearing, or where the harshness of the environment prevents other MCM operations.
|
From page 63... ...
Explosive Channel Excavation The 1992 Naval Studies Board Mine Countermeasures8 study suggested that a buried line charge analog could be formed by airdrop or ballistic delivery of spaced bombs, penetrating to about the depth for maximum cratering radius, and detonated nearly simultaneously to form a cleared channel by excavations of mines and obstacles in the SZ and CLZ, and on up the beach. Although listed here as a brute force technology, it involves precise spatial and temporal placement of the explosive charge and high reliability of detonation.
|
From page 64... ...
Explosive excavation could be effective in this zone, but the amount of ordnance required would be large because the very shallow water zone is typically far more extensive than the surf and craft landing zones. The concepts described above, some in ongoing programs (e.g., line charges discussed below)
|
From page 65... ...
Preliminary tests indicate that a foam road can be built in shallow water out to the surf zone. Following are some other brute force methods involving explosives.
|
From page 66... ...
SABRE and DET should be developed for breaching both land minefields and the surf and craft landing zones where obstacles are not present. Particularly against land minefields, the Thunder Road and glide net concepts for aircraft delivery have merit and should compete for selection.
|
From page 67... ...
Over its long history the MCM force has repeatedly demonstrated that the countermeasure functions of mine sweeping, mine hunting, and mine neutralization can be carried out by air and surface platforms much smaller than the 1,300-ton MCM-1 carrying a crew of 83. The Inshore Minesweeper (MSI)
|
From page 68... ...
The MSL was a 36-foot open launch (Boston Whaler type) equipped for mine sweeping using light AMCM sweep gear, mine hunting using a strap-on AN/SQQ-16 variable depth sonar, and mine neutralization by vectoring a charge lowered from a small boat.
|
From page 69... ...
There are limitations in pulsed power to avoid damage to the carrying vehicle and source array, as well as limitations due to water depth and required standoff distances; there are also limits in pulse shaping and repetition frequency because of source characteristics and between-shot recovery times. Although the list of issues that have to be addressed to assess the future application of this method is seemingly long, and there are concerns regarding the physics of nonlinear wave superposition in water and the effects of limited depth and irregularities in the propagation medium, initial results from the DARPA Although it was not presented to the panel, the Navy has apparently evaluated the electric spark approach as requiring heavy equipment to achieve mine detonation at acceptable ranges.
|
From page 70... ...
At this point a systematic measurement program to acquire necessary data is required. If this technology can be developed for effective use by MCM forces, it could significantly multiply current capabilities.
|
From page 71... ...
Currently, only the Mk-7 mammal system is capable of detecting and placing charges to neutralize buried mines. Combining the Mk-7 with a small, enhanced-capability MCM vessel could provide a system that can be launched from over the horizon, that operates in sea states 3 to 4, and that is able to detect, classify, and place timed neutralization charges against moored, bottom, and buried mines into the surf zone.
|
From page 72... ...
Biosensors: Mammal Sonars There are many ways of reducing the signature of a mine to make it less detectable, such as using materials and shapes that blend in with the environment, constructing it of nonmagnetic materials, or designing it to have a low acoustic cross section. Existing mine hunting sonars have a very difficult task detecting reduced-signature mines, and in the short term, the Navy may be forced to rely on sweeping and brute force methods when such mines are known to be deployed.
|
From page 73... ...
Active Electromagnetic Mine Detection Pulsed electromagnetic induction is a methodology that has been employed successfully in geophysical prospecting for conductive ore bodies. It is an active electromagnetic technique whereby a primary magnetic field is used to induce currents in nearby conductors.
|
From page 74... ...
The growing dependence on submarines around the world and the slow but steady increase in the proficiency of their crews signal a serious problem for the Navy and Marine Corps team in any future attempt to project power against the land. Advanced mine designs capable of protecting the flanks of an amphibious assault force from submarines will significantly leverage the available combatants.
|
From page 75... ...
The Marines and the Modern Homing Mine (HOMINE) The Marine Corps depends largely on the Army for its land mines and the countermeasures to such mines, and for that reason, as noted in the Preface, this report deals mainly with sea mines and mines in the surf and craft landing zones.
|
From page 76... ...
will generate requirements for both land mine and land mine countermeasures that differ from those of the Army. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Army developed to the prototype stage a distributed sensor antitank minefield called HOMINE.
|
From page 77... ...
CROSS-CUTTING TECHNOLOGIES This section deals with several technologies that are applicable to a wide spectrum of mine warfare and mine countermeasures issues.
|
From page 78... ...
This subject area is comprehensively addressed by the Panel on Modeling and Simulation in Technology for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, 2000-2035: Becoming a 21st-Century Force, Volume 9: Modeling and Simulation. As with any application of modeling and simulation, modeling and simulation aids for mine warfare should rest on a sound theoretical basis.
|
From page 79... ...
improved tactical development and training despite geographic separation of the principal MCM forces from the fleet and dispersal of the reserve component; (3) the timely development of appropriate systems to counter a threat that is rapidly changing, increasingly sophisticated, affordable to all potential enemies, and likely to be encountered in difficult coastal environments; and (4)
|
From page 80... ...
MCM forces need to be provided with a level of environmental prediction and sensing and an ability to optimally tune their systems, not unlike those provided to ASW forces. Adaptive sensors, which automatically sense their most effective parameters, can provide the needed in situ data.
|
From page 81... ...
· Aggressively pursue the development of so-called brute force technologies that will neutralize mines and obstacles in the very shallow water zone, the surf zone, and the craft landing zone. Far Term · Develop technologies for advanced networked sensor and weapon systems consisting of the following: Autonomous and semiautonomous networked undersea systems using small, autonomous undersea vehicles, bottom-crawling variants, and fixed sensors for far-forward covert MCM; and Controllable mines with remote fail-safe command and control (C2)
|
From page 82... ...
Consider unmanned, precisely navigated, hardened platforms. · Specifically test precision bombing techniques for removal of mines in shallow water and in the surf and craft landing zones.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.