Technology for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, 2000-2035: Becoming a 21st-Century Force Volume 6: Platforms (1997) / Chapter Skim
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4 Submarine Platform Technology
4 Submarine Platform Technology
Pages 85-114
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From page 85... ...
Future submarines will offer 85
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From page 86... ...
Taken together, innovation in submarine design and the application of automation can result in a significant reduction in the manpower required to operate and maintain future submarines. Warfighting Objectives Driving Technology As naval warfare has evolved and matured, submarine mission areas have steadily broadened.
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From page 87... ...
The future ability of submarine forces to participate as an integral element of the national missile defense (NMD) and theater missile defense (TMD)
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From page 88... ...
Stealth is the fundamental enabler of submarine naval warfare, enhancing the ability to operate anywhere, at any time, covertly as the strategic and tactical deterrent. The technical challenges associated with enhancing the stealth of underwater vehicles, including both active and passive measures, are difficult and complex and necessitate an integrated development approach both to capture the synergies available and to ensure that the appropriate tradeoffs are made between different submarine signatures and other performance parameters.
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From page 89... ...
Technology development for future submarine forces should be focused on building on and enhancing these characteristics. The enabling technologies that support submarine naval warfighting objectives should be pursued in the context of total platform integration together with innovative cost management techniques, a process rapidly maturing in modern submarine design.
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From page 90... ...
In addition to reducing the submarine's detectability, acoustic signature reduction also serves to improve the submarine's own passive sonar performance. Opportunities to enhance submarine acoustic stealth are available in the areas of radiated noise reduction and external flow control, including machinery noise suppression and advanced propulsor design; active sonar target strength reduction; acoustic transmission security; and own-ship signature monitoring.
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From page 91... ...
Advanced Hull Coatings. Advanced hull coatings offer several benefits: first, they serve as a barrier that attenuates radiated noise emanating from within the hull; second, they can reduce reflected acoustic energy, that is, acoustic target strength; finally, hull coatings can reduce flow-induced noise and drag.
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From page 92... ...
External Flow Control The objective of external flow control is to influence the flow field around the submarine to reduce noise, increase propulsion efficiency, enhance maneuverability, and reduce the hydrodynamic signature, especially when operating near the surface. A more complete understanding of the flow field around fullscale submarines is needed to facilitate development of efficient and effective methods of flow control.
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From page 93... ...
Additional research is required before the feasibility and benefits of this potentially promising technology can be evaluated properly. Active Sonar Target Strength Reduction The objective of active target strength reduction is to minimize the submarine's reflectivity with respect to active sonar.
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From page 94... ...
High-data-rate acoustic communications between submarines and unmanned undersea vehicles, surface ships, or other platforms will be increasingly important to support submarine missions such as coordinated ASW, launch and recovery of special operations forces, and mine countermeasures. Mission security can be compromised unless the enemy's ability to detect, classify, and locate these transmissions is minimized.
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From page 95... ...
Conclusions Stealth is the most salient feature of the submarine platform and one that must be maintained and enhanced if submarines are to continue to operate effectively in support of Navy and Marine Corps missions. The strategic and tactical value of submarine stealth is likely to grow in the future as surface ships become increasingly vulnerable to the combination of the widespread availability of visual satellite data and relatively low-cost GPS-based guidance systems.
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From page 96... ...
The realization of electric drive, an integrated stern, and large lightweight conformal arrays is expected to confer significant performance benefits. Hull Structure, Form, Materials Active Signature Control Advanced technology has seen a great reduction in component size as well as in the total displacement of the new nuclear-powered attack submarine (NSSN)
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From page 97... ...
The payoff for longer-term technologies, such as electromagnetic flow control, is more uncertain. In addition, there are combinations of more conventional flow control techniques that can be exploited synergistically.
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From page 98... ...
Hydraulically Smooth Surfaces Surfaces with roughness elements on the order of 10 microns for full-scale submarines will reduce drag and associated flow noise by reducing energy losses. This is a first step toward flow control because, given smooth surfaces, other boundary-layer control techniques will become more efficient.
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From page 99... ...
Conclusions As future submarine designs are conceived, evaluated, and implemented, the final product will be enhanced greatly by applying a broad and inclusive approach to submarine architecture, bringing together into a synergistic whole the myriad technologies (including those discussed above) , innovative concepts, and processes that submarine design requires.
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From page 100... ...
These techniques include many that should be incorporated into a full-scale hydrodynamic approach to submarine design. Some specifics include biofoulants to reduce slimes and marine growth on the hull and propulsor, hydraulically smooth surfaces that avoid the drag-induced effects of roughness elements, the use of flow control to reduce the complexity of signal processing, conditioning the inflow to the propulsor, and the ejection of polymers and microbubbles to reduce drag and minimize acoustic and nonacoustic signatures.
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From page 101... ...
As an example of advanced technology to be incorporated in submarines, lasers have an obvious potential for vertical connectivity to and from submarines, with realistic possibilities on the horizontal plane as well. Cooperative Engagement Battle Management Systems Battle management systems that can enable cooperative engagement with other Navy and Marine Corps forces, as well as with other joint and combined forces, will be a required element in the total suite of systems for future submarines.
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From page 102... ...
Improved connectivity is the key to enabling a cooperative engagement capability. Payload Technologies Future submarine missions enabled by the submarine's stealth and relative invulnerability include national or theater missile defense; precision high-volume fire support of ground forces; launch, control, and possibly recovery of off-board air and undersea vehicles for remote sensing and weapons delivery; remote mine reconnaissance and offensive mining; delivery and control of multiple ground force elements; and deployment of off-board seabed sensors.
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From page 103... ...
Technologies critical to high-speed weapons are power density, reduced drag hydrodynamics (e.g., supercavitation) , and guidance and control.
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From page 104... ...
will provide future submarines with a variety of new mission capabilities such as remote mine reconnaissance and location, environmental and operational intelligence collection, off-board sensing, seabed sensor deployment, and acoustic source positioning. Platform technologies required to support these vehicles include automated launch and recovery systems, maintenance and energy replenishment techniques, mission planning and control systems, and secure underwater communications links for launch or recovery, control, data transmission, navigation, and rendezvous.
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From page 105... ...
A focused, integrated, and continuing program of both basic research and engineering development is required to achieve savings in weight and space for application to advances in payload, hull design, signature reduction, producibility, and maintenance. Electric Drive Electric drive offers the promise of substantial improvement in submarine stealth.
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From page 106... ...
Ongoing power technology advancements and advances in metal oxide semiconductor technology, such as those that enable the development of power electronic building blocks, will allow more sophisticated power distribution systems and greatly improve the power density of practical electric drive systems. Power Plant Simplification Subsequent to the initial operation of Nautilus there have been concerted efforts to reduce the number of plant components, as well as the controls and instrumentation associated with both primary and secondary sections of submarine nuclear power plants.
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From page 107... ...
Navy submarines. While striving for improvement in the various aspects of power density, electric drive holds great promise to improve submarine stealth and design and should be pursued vigorously.
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From page 108... ...
. and by the opportunities offered by advanced missilery and quiet submarine technology ...."3 This statement by the Navy-21 panel was remarkably prescient and has been 3 Naval Studies Board.
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From page 109... ...
The adaptation of the Army Tactical Missile System will permit SSNs to deploy tactical missiles for conventional deterrence and fire support to ground forces. This expansion of submarine missions, foreseen by the Navy-21 study, has been enabled by the steady insertion of new technology ranging from satellite navigation and HDR communications to advanced digital processing of acoustic and targeting data.
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From page 110... ...
Increasing the power density in submarine propulsion, auxiliary power, and in off-board vehicles offers substantial improvement in platform performance, system simplification, and affordability. The direct and indirect benefits of increased power density suggest a substantial investment in this area.
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From page 111... ...
To this end, it is important that the U.S. Navy actively stimulate the development of submarine technology by promoting a broad and imaginative vision of future submarine naval warfare capabilities.
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