A towed array for LCS?
January 25th, 2010 | Mine warfare Science and technology Ships Submarines | Posted by Phil Ewing
Sailors in the littoral combat ships' mission control centers -- where FC1 Ronila Ivory stood ready to fire Freedom's 57mm gun in November -- could begin listening for submarines if the ships get a towed array sonar // Lt. Ed Early / Navy
The littoral combat ships weren’t designed with an onboard sonar because the Navy wanted LCS to use the sensors aboard its unmanned vehicles — including a remotely operated boat and submarine — but that, apparently, could be changing: Naval Sea Systems Command’s Underwater Warfare Center at Newport, R.I. has a request for proposal (pdf) out this month seeking ideas from contractors about a variable depth sonar for LCS with a towed array, like the ones carried on cruisers and early Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
(Navy officials said that one reason they canceled DDG 1000 in favor of more DDG 51s was the Burkes’ better anti-submarine capabilities (pdf), even though the newer ones don’t have a towed array. Funny, that.)
As Scoop Deck waits for Navy officials to respond to requests for comment on this, it’s worth thinking through how an onboard sonar could change the way LCS could operate.
It could mean the ships might get their own torpedoes — as designed, they have no launchers, and an LCS must use its helicopter to drop on an enemy sub.
It could mean that LCS has an on-board backup in case its sub-hunting robot breaks, but it also takes away one of the main selling points for doing missions with remotely operated vehicles: Part of the strategy for LCS is to “take the sailor out of the minefield,” enabling the ship to stand off while its accessories do the work hunting for mines or enemy submarines. But if a ship has its own towed array, it could become a target, especially if it has arrived at its patrol box anywhere close to its 45-knot sprint speed, which seems like a great way to alert every submarine in the hemisphere that you’re there.
Also worth remembering: The Navy deleted the Remote Mine-hunting System from the anti-submarine LCS mission module at some point last year, which caused it to breach a congressional cap on program costs. Maybe a towed array is a relatively easy way to give LCS another sensor for finding submarines?
And one more thing: The Navy already issued a contract for some kind of wham-o-dyne robot arm to launch and recover boats from LCS. What ever happened to that?
Comments
-
LCS Alternative Weekly « New Wars Says:
January 27th, 2010 at 6:02 am[...] Deck’s Phil Ewing reports on a new plan to install a towed sonar array on LCS. Its his commentary that caught my [...]