Abstract: LRUSV is a new type of armed unmanned boat that the US Marine Corps will be equipped with in the future, which can effectively improve the combat capability of the US Marine Corps in the future. This paper mainly introduces and analyzes the overview, development, performance and use of the boat.
Keywords: United States, Marine Corps, naval warfare weapons, LRUSV armed unmanned boats, distributed maritime operations
Rendering of an LRUSV armed unmanned boat
According to a July 18, 2023 release by Navy News Network, the U.S. Marine Corps has decided to allocate a budget of $25.25 million in the upcoming fiscal year 2024 for the purchase of five LRUSV armed unmanned boats and one mother boat to control the LRUSV armed unmanned boats.
Equipment overview
LRUSV armed unmanned boats
LRUSV (Chinese translation: long-range unmanned surface ship) is a reconnaissance and combat integrated armed unmanned boat developed by the US "Metal Shark" company based on its "Challenger 40" speedboat, which is designed to improve the long-range precision strike capability of the US Marine Corps, mainly used for fire strikes, maritime patrols and ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions, and at the same time, in the US Marine Corps' "Force Design 2030" plan, LRUSV armed unmanned boats are also regarded as " An important reconnaissance force in "Distributed Maritime Operations" and "Distributed Killing". The LRUSV was tested at sea in October-November 2022 and April-May 2023, and the first prototype LRUSV was delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps in January 2022. According to information previously disclosed by the US Marine Corps, it hopes to begin the formal deployment of LRUSV armed unmanned boats between 2025 and 2027.
Introduction to equipment performance
Rendering of the LRUSV armed unmanned boat (left) and the mother boat used to control the boat (right). The mother boat used to control the LRUSV armed unmanned boat is also developed on the basis of the "Challenger 40" speedboat, which can accommodate 6 crew members to control the LRUSV armed unmanned boat and the weapon system on board (such as the "Hero-120" patrol missile, etc.), and the mother boat is also equipped with electronic systems such as radar, optoelectronic / infrared detection devices
According to the available information, the LRUSV armed unmanned boat is mainly the manned cockpit of the "Challenger 40" speedboat has been unmanned and fully enclosed, its length is about 12.28 meters, the width of the boat is about 3.32 meters, equipped with two Cummins QSB 6.7 diesel engines and two Hamilton HTX30 waterjet propulsion devices, the maximum speed on the surface reaches about 40 knots, and the maximum mission time can reach 48 hours. LRUSV armed unmanned boats mainly adopt semi-autonomous operation mode (if necessary, they can also be downgraded, that is, use full manual operation mode), and have human/aircraft collaborative combat, intelligent route planning and certain autonomous navigation (such as obstacle avoidance, etc.) capabilities, and its electronic system is mainly installed on the mast on the boat, including: radar, optoelectronic / infrared detection device, electronic warfare system, high-speed data link system, "star link" system, etc.
The LRUSV armed dronely is equipped with a control console that can be used for downgrade
As an armed unmanned boat, LRUSV can be equipped with a variety of types of boat weapons and equipment according to different tasks, and on the LRUSV armed unmanned boat currently purchased by the US Marine Corps, its main configuration of weapons is an 8-mounted "Hero-120" patrol missile box-type oblique launcher, which can carry a total of 8 "Hero-120" patrol missiles at a time.
The 8-mounted "Hero-120" patrol missile box-type inclined launcher on the LRUSV armed unmanned boat can be seen from the picture, and the radar and electro-optical/infrared detection devices on the mast on the boat can be seen from the picture
"Hero-120" patrol missile
Hero-120 patrol missile launched from a box-type inclined launcher
"Hero-120" cruise missile is a multi-platform multi-purpose cruise missile developed by Israel Uvision Airlines, its launch platform includes individual portable launchers, surface ships, armored vehicles, helicopters, etc., mainly used to attack tanks, armored vehicles, surface ships, buildings, personnel and other targets, and can attack from the top of the target. The projectile weighs 18 kg with the launch canister, the nose is equipped with an omnidirectional photoelectric seeker, the middle front and tail of the projectile are equipped with two groups of 8 pieces (4 pieces each) in an "X" shaped layout of folding wings, and the rear of the projectile has a battery-powered electric propeller propulsion device, the maximum air dwell time is 60 minutes, the longest control range (range/range) is 60 km, and the typical flight altitude is 365.76-914.4 meters. The Hero-120 patrol missile has a warhead weight of 4.5 kg and can carry a high-explosive or anti-personnel/anti-armor warhead depending on the mission. In addition, the "Hero-120" patrol missile also has the characteristics of low detectability, simple operation, simple maintenance, good environmental adaptability, and "human in the loop" capabilities.
Author's comment:
The combination of LRUSV armed drones and Hero-120 patrol missiles will effectively enhance the future capabilities of the U.S. Marine Corps
As an important unmanned surface combat equipment of the US Marine Corps in the future, LRUSV armed unmanned boats have the characteristics of good mobility, diverse uses, high degree of informatization, and strong precision strike capabilities, and after their formal service in the future, they can help the US Marine Corps complete forward fire strikes, forward reconnaissance, deception and jamming, search and rescue and other combat tasks more efficiently and safely with the cooperation of the entire combat system of the US military, and can effectively act as a variety of battlefield nodes, such as: communication nodes, electronic warfare nodes, etc. In addition, considering that the range of the Hero-120 patrol missile equipped on the LRUSV armed unmanned boat is much greater than that of most of the short-range tactical precision strike munitions used by the US Marine Corps now and in the future (such as the Hellfire series missiles with a maximum range of 8 kilometers and the JAGM missile with a maximum range of 16 kilometers), the combination of the LRUSV armed unmanned boat and the Hero-120 cruise missile will be for the future US Marine Corps. It will be a highly effective precision strike weapon, further enhancing the U.S. Marine Corps' precision strike capabilities against enemy targets on the forward battlefield.