Royal Navy's Robotic Submarine
Submarines are insanely sophisticated pieces of technology. And they are very effective and there are very few of them. But they are also really expensive. So, the solution may be submarine drones.
Image by David Mark from Pixabay
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Nowadays we see drones in the air, on the ground, on water, and even underwater. Now the British government is investing 2.5 million pounds into the development of an extra-large autonomous submarine to be used by the Royal Navy. This submarine drone should be roughly 30 meters long. It will be an experimental submarine that will be used by experts from the Royal Navy to test how to make such submarines and use them best by the Royal Navy.
Submarines are one of the most treasured pieces of a modern navy. Plus, according to their crew, they are the only part of the navy that matters. Submarines can get almost anywhere in the world while remaining hidden. They can stay in the sea for months on end and can possess both strong tactical and strategic weapons.
But submarines are also really expensive. A single advanced military submarine costs billions of dollars just to build, more billions of dollars to sustain them during their lifetime and even more billions of dollars to train their crews. This has some consequences. The fleets of submarines are much smaller now then they were during the world wars. And because of their ridiculous prices, the navies use them only when they aren't in too much danger if they have the choice.
That is the main motivation of the Royal Navy to build submarine drones. These should increase the number of submarines in the Royal Navy. Most likely these will be used for reconnaissance and to fight the enemy submarines.
The British Ministry of Defence gave the initial contract worth one million pounds to the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) organization and to the Msubs Ltd. company based in Plymouth to build the experimental submarine with a range of 5,600 kilometers. In this initial phase in the Autonomous Underwater Capability programs and in cooperation with the Navy and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, they will focus on converting conventional submarines with human crews into autonomous crafts. And if these tests will be successful then more money will come.
The developed autonomous submarine will be less than one third the size of the newest British class of submarines – Astute – which are 97 meters large. The truth is should be almost exactly the same submarine just without all the technology that serves the crew and its comfort. An additional benefit will be that the submarines will be very quite – partially because they will not have a human crew. Many high ranking officers are quite fascinated by the “cheap” submarine drones and are putting their hopes in them.
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ha. recon? when they're perfected, they will become undetectable nuclear threats ready to be used on the press of a button against anything over decades without any need for maintenance whatsoever. unfortunately, that's the cheapest and most efficient use. submarines can't effectively be searched for, but even if one was found, it can't simply be destroyed when it is nuclear. the most advanced weaponry can't be countered either.