The U.S. Navy has accelerated the development of new types of ships

Source: China National Defense Daily

Recently, the U.S. Navy Surface Systems Command Operations Center released the report "Surface Warfare: Competitive Advantage" to plan for the development of surface forces in the U.S. Navy over the next 10 years. Roy Kitchener, Commander of the United States Naval Surface Forces, elaborated on the report at a seminar of the United States Naval Association on the Surface. He said the report aims to better align surface forces to meet growing strategic challenges.

Mission goals for the next 10 years

The next 10 years will be an unprecedentedly complex 10 years, and to ensure that the U.S. Navy continues to maintain its maritime superiority, surface forces must be fully prepared. To this end, the report proposes five mission objectives for the construction of the U.S. Navy.

The first is to strengthen the cultivation of talents. Surface Forces will train soldiers and officers for the U.S. Navy through training, education, and mentoring. Although in the future, surface troops will adopt more advanced technology platforms, talent is still a core element.

The second is the rapid deployment of new ships and weapons platforms. Conduct a new assessment of the original combat strength of the surface forces, and consider improving the capabilities of the surface forces in the introduction of new platforms by optimizing procurement strategies, ship maintenance support and operations.

The third is to strengthen data analysis. Increase the importance of data analysis by surface troops. Learn from the combat missions of the past 50 years and use them as a basis to improve combat capabilities.

The fourth is to develop new tactics and operational concepts. Given the number and complexity of future deployments of combat systems and platforms, the need for clear and innovative operational concepts is critical. At the same time, the Navy's Surface and Mine Warfare Development Center and combat tactics researchers should be relied upon to develop and innovate training tactics.

Fifth, strengthen infrastructure construction. Focus on the infrastructure construction of surface troops, focus on the command and control facilities of surface forces and the land-based infrastructure needed to support the development of surface troops. Develop a 10-year roadmap for specific categories of infrastructure needs to reduce the risk of technology introduction.

The development of unmanned ships is the focus of the line

According to the U.S. Navy's development plan, 10 new or improved ship platforms will join the U.S. Navy fleet or enter the production phase over the next 10 years, the report said. Major projects include Zumwalt-class destroyers, Constellation-class guided-missile frigates, light amphibious warships, medium-sized unmanned surface combat ships, large unmanned surface combat ships, and next-generation guided-missile destroyers. At the same time, the Aegis "Baseline" 10 combat system will integrate the new SPY-6 series of shipboard radar and an improved SEWIP shipboard electronic warfare system, equipped with the next generation of guided missile destroyers.

Judging from the content of the report, it is remarkable that medium and large unmanned surface combat ships will be in service. The report notes that in order to ensure that unmanned ships have rapid combat capabilities after service, the U.S. Navy's Surface Forces Command will develop new tactics specifically for them. Because the operation of unmanned ships is highly dependent on network technology, new concepts such as "electronic infrastructure" have been incorporated into the task goal of strengthening infrastructure construction, including the application and management of big data and artificial intelligence technology.

In recent years, the U.S. Navy has positioned unmanned equipment as a new type of combat force with unique advantages, giving it the same important status as manned equipment. At present, the US Navy is accelerating the formation of a systematic actual combat capability of unmanned equipment and building a new type of naval equipment system that combines man and man. In the concept of "distributed maritime warfare" that the US Navy continues to promote, the surface force is supplemented with a large number of large and medium-sized unmanned surface combat ships, which is an important part of meeting this operational concept. The report shows that the US Navy has begun to prepare manpower and material resources for the widespread use of unmanned ships. (Wang Peng, Wen Bin)

(Source: China National Defense Daily)