US unmanned ship test, using guerrilla warfare at sea to deal with China?

The US Department of Defense recently released a video showing the launch test of containerized "Standard" -6 missiles using a surface unmanned vessel called the "Ranger".

Unmanned ships, containerized missile launchers, and Standard-6 missiles are all cutting-edge military technologies. What is the purpose of the US military combining these three? What impact will it have on future naval battles?

The unmanned ship "Cavalry" launches the "Standard" -6 missile

Unmanned ship tests container missile for the first time

From the released video, it can be seen that the rear of the "Cavalry" unmanned ship is equipped with a containerized launch device. After the unmanned ship sailed to the test area, the containerized launch device stood up and test fired a "Standard" -6 missile.

The "Ranger" unmanned ship is an experimental vessel and part of the "Ghost Fleet" program developed by the US military. The program was launched in 2019 and is expected to be completed in 2022. It is currently in its second phase. The "Ghost Fleet" program aims to create an unmanned surface testing fleet to develop the capabilities of unmanned surface warships and their game changing, cross domain, and cross service combat concepts. At present, the test fleet consists of two unmanned ships, the "Cavalry" and the "Nomad", and two unmanned surface vessels are under construction, which can accelerate the navy's experiments and testing after completion.

In fact, the predecessors of the "Cavalry" and "Wanderer" were two highly automated manned civilian ships that were once used for oil and gas extraction. After being purchased, the Office of Strategic Capabilities of the US Department of Defense carried out a series of modifications and redesigned the deck to facilitate the installation of new test loads, radars, auto drive system systems and other sensors. The Strategic Capability Office of the US Department of Defense announced in June this year that the USS Wanderer completed a navigation test from the Gulf Coast of Mexico to San Diego, covering a distance of 8188 kilometers. During the navigation, 98% of the time was controlled by an automated control system.

The Standard-6 missile is the latest type of shipborne missile equipped by the US Navy. Initially, its main functions were air defense and terminal anti missile. It was developed in 2004 and began low-speed production in 2009. The basic "Standard" -6 missile weighs about 1.5 tons and is equipped with a 64 kilogram warhead using a composite guidance method of inertial navigation, mid course command trimming, and terminal active and passive radar. The maximum range of the missile is 370 kilometers.

The unmanned ship "Cavalry" sailing on the sea is equipped with containerized missile launchers on its aft deck. The biggest feature of this missile is that it can achieve beyond visual range interception of aircraft and anti-ship missiles (including land attack cruise) with the support of E-2D early warning aircraft and other platforms, and has the ability to conduct long-range air defense and anti missile defense. With the changing threats, the US Navy has increasingly assigned responsibilities to the "Standard" -6 missile, with anti-ship and interception hypersonic weapons first proposed. On January 18, 2016, the US Navy conducted a "Standard-6" anti-ship test and sank a frigate, demonstrating its long-range anti-ship capability. The "Standard" -6 Block IB missile under development has stronger anti missile capabilities, enhancing its ability to deal with anti-ship ballistic missiles. According to reports, the US Missile Defense Agency and the US Navy plan to test the use of the "Standard" -6 missile to strike the "Advanced Mobile Threat" later this year, which refers to unpowered hypersonic gliders.

In April of this year, US media published photos of the US Navy's F/A-18F "Super Hornet" carrying the "Standard-6" missile. Analysis suggests that the US Navy may be upgrading the "Standard-6" missile to become an ultra long range air-to-air missile, further enhancing the air defense capabilities of carrier based aircraft, especially in dealing with high-value air platforms such as enemy early warning aircraft and bombers. It can be said that the "Standard" -6 missile has become the "panacea" weapon of the US Navy.

From the video, it can be seen that the containerized "Standard" -6 missile of the "Cavalry" unmanned ship is installed on the rear deck of the unmanned ship. As the unmanned ship is not equipped with remote search radar, only some navigation radar is available. Therefore, target information should be provided by other platforms and transmitted to the unmanned ship through a data link. The "Standard" -6 missile adopts active radar terminal guidance and has low dependence on the unmanned ship's fire control system.

The Standard-6 missile is a multi-purpose missile with capabilities for air defense, anti missile, and anti-ship

Is the United States going to engage in 'maritime guerrilla warfare'?

In recent years, the US Navy has attached increasing importance to the development of unmanned equipment, including unmanned underwater vehicles, unmanned surface vessels, and unmanned aerial vehicles. In 2017, the US Navy established the first unmanned underwater vehicle squadron, and in 2019, the US Navy formed the 1st Surface Ship Development Squadron. By 2026, the US Navy plans to acquire 26 unmanned vessels, including 12 large unmanned surface vehicles (LUSVs), 1 medium unmanned surface vehicle (MUSV), and 8 ultra large unmanned underwater vehicles (XLUUVs). In order to implement this 5-year plan, the US Navy has requested $2.7 billion in funding from Congress.

In terms of exercises, the US Navy often organizes various unmanned equipment based exercises or training to verify relevant technologies and explore tactics. For example, the joint exercise of manned and unmanned systems in the air/sea, "Unmanned Integrated Operations Problem 21," was held for the first time in April this year. The US Navy used seven types of unmanned aerial vehicle technology equipment in this exercise, including the "Ocean Guardian" drone, MQ-8B "Fire Scout" unmanned helicopter, Vanilla's ultra long endurance drone, the "Sea Hunter" unmanned boat, the "Sea Eagle" unmanned boat, underwater autonomous vehicles, and the "Super Bee Colony" research project of the US Naval Research Laboratory (which aims to study how to use and defend against drone swarms). In addition, there are multiple manned ships and planes participating.

The combination of unmanned ships and "Standard-6" missiles not only adapts to the trend of future unmanned naval battles, but also conforms to the concept of "distributed maritime operations" proposed by the US Navy. This combat concept is the top-level combat concept of the current US Navy, which is a high-end combat concept specially designed and developed for strategic competitors (such as Russia and other major countries), emphasizing the offensive and defensive capabilities of a single ship, dispersed deployment in a vast geographic space, and forming dispersed firepower.

In recent years, the US Navy has placed increasing emphasis on the development of unmanned equipment. According to the document, distributed maritime operations have three main pillars: firstly, enhancing the offensive killing capability of individual ships, which is reflected in three aspects: sufficient to deter strong enemies, sufficient to carry out operations against strong enemies, and sufficient to gain battlefield advantages for subsequent joint operations; The second is to deploy offensive capabilities and fleet combat firepower in a wide geographical range, forming a situation where multiple attack sources strike multiple targets of the enemy, and the enemy will face decision-making and resource allocation difficulties; The third is to allocate reasonable resources for surface platforms to maintain their combat capabilities.

In short, the purpose of the concept of "distributed maritime operations" is to enhance the offensive capabilities of the US Navy while improving survivability. Once unmanned ships and "Standard" -6 missiles are added, unmanned autonomous distributed maritime operations will disperse more combat resources of the opponent, further enhancing the US military's ability to counteract the opponent's "anti access/area denial".

Container missiles launched by Russian military enterprises. In addition to unmanned ships, containerized "Standard" -6 missiles also deserve high attention. Based on comprehensive information from multiple sources, the container launching device of the unmanned ship "Cavalry" was modified from MK-41 and is usually installed inside the container. When launched, it stands upright and launches missiles vertically. This launch device has very low requirements for the platform, as long as it can accommodate a container deck. It can be deployed not only on main combat ships (including medium and large unmanned ships), but also on auxiliary ships such as supply ships and transport ships, and even on merchant ships.

In fact, a few years ago, Russia launched containerized missiles, but they were mainly used to launch anti-ship missiles such as Uranus, Club, and Fortress. The biggest advantage of containerized missile launchers is their high concealment and good adaptability. However, there are also many problems with merchant ships carrying containerized missiles for combat, which leads to the expansion of the target of attack. Some merchant ships without weapons can also become targets of attack, posing a moral hazard.

The containerized "Standard" -6 missile is being erected, preparing to launch the missile

The "Standard" -6 missile not only has air defense and anti missile capabilities, but also anti-ship and ground attack capabilities. It is a multi-purpose missile equipped with containerized "Standard" -6 missiles on unmanned ships. With the support of the system, unmanned ships can enter some high-risk waters, perform both defensive and offensive tasks, such as striking enemy warships and important ground targets, further verifying the "distributed killing" combat concept proposed by the US Navy of "all ships are at war". Container type devices have high camouflage ability, increasing the difficulty of target recognition for opponents. Even if they are damaged in battle, no one is injured. Moreover, if unmanned ships adopt stealth design, their stealth performance is much higher than that of large surface warships, and their offensive and defensive capabilities are even better. They can even be used for guerrilla warfare at sea.

The MK-41 is a modular missile launch device that can be paired with different missiles according to different missions. If carrying out ground attack missions, it can add Tomahawk cruise missiles; If we want to further enhance our ability to deal with anti-ship missiles, we can also add the ESSM "NATO Sea Sparrow" medium range air defense missile.

The combination of unmanned ships, containerized launchers, and Standard-6 missiles will change the mode of naval warfare, and unmanned naval warfare and modern maritime guerrilla warfare will gradually move towards the battlefield. (Pengpai News)