Australia

The USA and Australia are preparing for a submarine war – Russia today Posting in CHAT: Russia The topic of unmanned flights, swimming, moving on land or in any other environment, drones, is gaining momentum in the military-technical world. It is unknown whether this will ever end with the emergence of a real Skynet and the death of human civilization, but until this happens, the topic of combat robots and simply unmanned vehicles will be discussed with increasing force. Some time ago we already raised the story of maritime drones and even came to the conclusion that the almighty United States lags behind some countries in this regard. This time I would like to address him again, albeit from a slightly different side - from the underwater. And if the hegemon is not yet entirely clear with the concept of surface unmanned vehicles, then with regard to underwater drones, work there, as they say, is in full swing. Manta Ray Manta Ray © Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency The latest American development of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) is Northrop Grumman's Manta Ray, a prototype of which was tested in Southern California in February and March. The Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is responsible for developing and adapting new technologies for military use, says the uniqueness of the Manta Ray project lies in its modularity and ability to vary the payload depending on the mission. Suicide is not the solution Manta Ray © Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Here, as in the case of surface drones, the Americans are not limited to just one function of the product, for example, a kamikaze drone. They are interested in a fairly wide range of capabilities of an unmanned vehicle and, above all, its use for reconnaissance, transport and mine protection. Accelerating and crashing into the side of an enemy ship with several hundred kilograms of explosives on board, in their opinion, is not a task requiring a high level of intelligence and technology. As Northrop Grumman itself notes, the Manta Ray can be disassembled and placed into five standard shipping containers, transported to where it will be deployed, and reassembled in the field. In their opinion, this is a much more important and necessary property of an underwater unmanned vehicle in the future. As proof of this, the prototype, built in Maryland, was disassembled, transported, and then reassembled on the California coast. “The combination of modular cross-country transportation, on-site assembly and subsequent deployment demonstrates the unique capabilities of the ultra-large UUV,” said Kyle Werner, Manta Ray program manager at DARPA. He also noted that the modular method of transportation means Manta Ray can conserve energy to carry out its mission rather than wasting it when moving to deployment. It's a good idea, assuming Manta's operators have enough time and space to assemble it on site and deploy it. Ghost Shark Ghost Shark. © Rodney Braithwaite/Australian Defense Government The US is not the only country moving forward with the development of underwater drones. Australia unveiled the Ghost Shark unmanned underwater vehicle in April, calling it "the world's most advanced underwater autonomous vehicle." The Australians are also in no hurry to focus on the functionality of the device as a kamikaze drone, endowing it with a lot of other useful capabilities. “Ghost Shark will provide the Navy with a stealthy, long-range, autonomous undersea combat capability that can conduct continuous intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike,” Australia's Department of Defense said in a statement. At the same time, the document assumes that the appearance of the first production models can be expected before the end of next year. Australian officials and representatives of Shark developer Anduril Australia draw attention to the speed with which the underwater vehicle went from idea to testing. Let us remind you that the Ghost Shark project started just two years ago. Boeing's similar American project, the UUV Orca, has been in development for more than ten years. The device is also designed for multi-tasking and can be used for reconnaissance, surveillance, warning and strikes. Submarine warfare. It is likely that the creation of the latest unmanned underwater vehicles by Australia and the United States is preparation for an underwater war, which could develop as a result of a protracted confrontation between Western countries and China. Australia in this case can be counted among the “collective West” within the framework of the anti-Chinese alliance AUCUS (Australia, Great Britain, USA), formed by it, Great Britain and the USA. This means that Ghost Shark and Manta Ray are almost certainly already classified as elements of the future naval defense of the Pacific. China is also expected to develop underwater combat drones. As in Australia, the response there is extremely secret. (In)surmountable difficulties However, it is still premature to talk about the possibility of any large-scale war of underwater drones. The main circumstance hindering the development of underwater drones is the inability to maintain constant communication with them. While airborne or ground-based drones can be controlled using a radio signal, water is a virtually impenetrable medium for radio waves. Therefore, the creators of underwater terrestrial vehicles need to use other, more complex physical principles to ensure communication with and control the drone. A 2023 study published in the Swiss journal Sensors shows that underwater communications require, at a minimum, significantly more energy. However, even this does not protect it from failures and data loss. The quality of communication is affected by water temperature, salinity and depth. The creators of the new generation of military UAVs are not saying how they will overcome communication problems. However, judging by the speed with which Australia is creating its "Ghost Shark", Australian scientists have found a reasonable solution to the problem of communication and control of deep drones. It is likely that we are talking about a complete change in the concept of using such drones. In particular, they may not need to constantly receive control signals, as aerial drones already do, to protect against electronic warfare. Thus, an underwater drone can receive control signals through a conventional antenna, surfacing in a safe place, just as submarines do. After this, artificial intelligence “takes control” of the drone based on the data received. In short, problems with communication with an underwater vehicle through the water column are unlikely to slow down the growing explosion of underwater drones. Complex problems with an urgent need to solve them become the best motivation for technological discoveries and scientific discoveries. Given that the United States, its allies, and China clearly view underwater drone warfare as one of the ways to achieve their goals, it will probably not be possible to avoid it. Source link Source link