French SSN Programme

[nero]

mini-subs will rule

There is some very very intersting tech under development, and IMV the tipping point is getting closer.

when you consider advances that the french (esp with micro fuel cells), americans, germans and australians have made with fuel cell technology, then the use of long range ROV/UUV/USV's becomes apparent.

I think I've mentioned before that I was shown some USV tech in Hawai'i at a UDT Conf in 2004. at that stage that platform had an 8hs worth of duration. In the space of 18 months, swimout duration had gone to 36 hrs.

Current advances in storage and propulsion have changed that again in recent times.

There are some very serious capabilities under development, and IMO, the nature of sub warfare is about to undergo some significant change. There may always be manned subs, but the tech means that manned subs running dismounts will be the future.

minisubs will rule the seas if u ask me!!

have u seen the SMX-23 concept yet???

the SMX-23 will not dare into deep-waters, but in shallow coastal waters
it is as dangerous as a crocodile!!

with such small subs its much easier to protect one's territorial waters.

as u must know it's easy to lay mines & conduct special operations with a small compact sub than something like a SSBN.


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[gf0012-aust]

minisubs will rule the seas if u ask me!!

have u seen the SMX-23 concept yet???

the SMX-23 will not dare into deep-waters, but in shallow coastal waters
it is as dangerous as a crocodile!!

small subs have some considerable limitations. any sub employment is going to be defined by employment issues and platform competency.

with such small subs its much easier to protect one's territorial waters.

No its not. Thats why there are solutions such as CBASS

as u must know it's easy to lay mines & conduct special operations with a small compact sub than something like a SSBN.


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Smaller subs are clearly limited for minelaying.

I suggest that you look at the minelaying capability of a fleet/blue water sub as compared to a green water/littoral.

larger subs are far easier for spec ops as they allow flexibility of the capability and mix of the specwarrie team.

nukes have been running specops for the last 40+ years. as far as the USN is concerned all that experience contributed to mods for the SSGNs.

 

[gf0012-aust]

Has the advances in undersea comms been commensurate with the advances made in UUV platform capability? Or is the thrust placed towards incorporating as much automation/AI in the UUVs as possible to minimise comms requirement?

Not an easy one to answer as each developing entity has different philosophies about their future platform doctrine.

"wireless" comms has hit some new developments. eg there is some australian tech which is in the proces of being shared with the USN and RN. On the other hand, the current view for RAN is to stay with umbilicals for the near future as we are more interested in preserving bandwidth, An umbilical therefore restricts the USV's absolute range from the parent vessel, but that approach is acceptable for RAN as it fits current tasking and profiles.

The americans on the other hand are keen to see how far our new tech can be used - as their requirement is for long range remote management.

different strokes for different folks.

 

[DoC_FouALieR]

a single USS-texas, which is a virginia-class sub, can takeout both the barracuda, as well as the le-triomphant in one go.

Easy to say, but how can you argue about subs that have classified capabilities and subs whose construction has not even begun...

the best way to counter SSBNs is by using something like a SMX-23 coastal submarine

I don't think that SSBNs commander are dumb enough to schedule their patrol in coastal waters of a foreign/ennemy country. To hunt a SSBN, you need a good SSN.

 

[gf0012-aust]

a single USS-texas, which is a virginia-class sub, can takeout both the barracuda, as well as the le-triomphant in one go.

I'm not so sure I'd be making empirical statements like this.

One of the reasons why we ban discussions about who's plane(ship/tank/gun) is better than someone elses plane (ship/tank/gun) is because technology is only part of any equation.

National pride can be an absolute biatch when it comes to having sensible discussions....

 

[submerged]

Also capabilities are one thing, operating those capabilities is a different one It will be interresting to see the upcoming ROV type drones, especially when u consider how much applications there allready are of them in the offshore market and such, they will make a nice extension of the normal capabilities of manned subs in some cases.

 

[gf0012-aust]

It will be interresting to see the upcoming ROV type drones, especially when u consider how much applications there allready are of them in the offshore market and such, they will make a nice extension of the normal capabilities of manned subs in some cases.

A substantial part of current ROV/USV/UUV technology is legacied from experience in the deep sea offshore environment....

its one of the few examples of the private sector influencing the military development.... usually the food chain is in reverse.

 

[tphuang]

A substantial part of current ROV/USV/UUV technology is legacied from experience in the deep sea offshore environment....

its one of the few examples of the private sector influencing the military development.... usually the food chain is in reverse.

I'm just wondering, how do ROV and UUV differ?
What would be considered a ROV and not a UUV and also vice versa?

 

[riksavage]

ROV – Remotely operated vehicle, as it states in the title, is remotely operated by someone on board a mother-ship. Often as not, mother and baby (ROV) are connected by an umbilical cord of some sort.

UUV – Are more advance and semi-autonomous. Programmed onboard the mother ship and released on a specific mission, which can be changed during the life-cycle of the assignment. Similar to an airborne equivalent such as Predator B. UUV is the way forward particularly for long range missions.

 

[submerged]

this is allmost correct alltho i also used the wrong terminoligy.

UUV's are Unmanned Undersea Vehicles, these can be distincted in Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). The difference between the AUV and the ROV is the presence (or absence) of direct hard-wire communication between the vehicle and the platform or autonomous operation with a RF link between the mothership, the USN often designates AUV's as UUV.