|
nAVY tECHNOLOGY
November 2007
Technology Spending Will Target Current and Future Navy Fleet
By Sandra I. Erwin
 The Navy should direct its future science, research and technology spending to both improving the current fleet and designing next-generation systems, officials say.
The technologies that the Navy most likely will fund over the coming decade are those that help lower the cost of building and operating ships, as well as those that contribute to making vessels more flexible and easier to upgrade. Evolving missions of naval forces in overseas conflicts and homeland defense also will shape research and development budgets.
“Opportunities for insertion of new technology via entirely new systems, subsystems and/or components will be driven by their affordability and by the threats facing U.S. interests,” says Michael L. Bosworth, deputy chief technology officer at the Naval Sea Systems Command. “The chief of naval operations’ maritime strategy and vision for the future Navy, and requirements derived from current ship programs are also considered when defining the future needs,” Bosworth writes in a Defense Department newsletter published by the Weapon Systems Technology Information Analysis Center.
Ships stay in service for several decades in the Navy, so the service will be looking to insert new technology aboard vessels during “modernizations,” which include scheduled major upgrades and, in the case of aircraft carriers, refueling and complex overhauls, says Bosworth.
Newer ships, which are designed to be more modular and will feature “open systems” electronics networks will make it easier for the Navy to incorporate new technologies, even as they undergo routine maintenance, he notes.
Of key interest to the Navy are survivability technologies to protect sailors and ships, Bosworth says. “Since these areas are unique to Navy ships, there is no commercial counterpart for technology investment; a fact which requires the science and technology investment in survivability to be solely the Navy’s,” he explains. “There are significant differences in survivability requirements between the ship types, but also many common needs.”
Ships will need to protect their so-called electronic signatures — radio frequency, infrared, acoustic, magnetic and visual — that are tied to naval weapons and sensors. Another priority is the protection against nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as well as shock and fragmentation. This is a major concern as the Navy seeks to build smaller, less expensive combatants that come with less built-in protection than traditional, larger warships.
Specific technology needs include weapons and sensors for littoral and mine warfare, such as command-and-control systems for simultaneous operation of multiple unmanned vehicles and increased computing power.
Science and technology investments, says Bosworth, should support networked systems, high power electronics and electrical power actuators. “The introduction of autonomous unmanned vehicles provides both technology challenges and opportunities. The operation of unmanned vehicles, including unmanned underwater vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles will expand in the future and be operated off of most naval platforms.”
Rear Adm. William E. Landay III, chief of naval research, predicts that, as budgets get tighter, the Navy will have to reach out to commercial industry and foreign nations for advanced technology. While U.S. military expenditures on science and technology have seen a steady decline, R&D budgets worldwide have soared by 83 percent during the past eight years, Landay says at the conference. “We want to take advantage of the global economy … And still we need to think about our military superiority,” he says. “Technology is a two-way path. We need to figure out how to bring international technology into U.S. weapons systems … We are actively looking for ideas and solutions.”
Please email your comments to SErwin@ndia.org
Back To Top
|
Search Tips
