donald_of_tokyo wrote:I agree good point.Ron5 wrote:Not sure what would be trialed. Looks like they took an ASW helo's equipment and stuck it in a unmanned speedboat. Personally I see zero technology breakthrough here.
I doubt if the speedboats could cope with North Sea conditions let alone the Atlantic and how long exactly would they take to reach a sub contact from Mother? A Merlin flies out at 150 knots, what do these things do? 20 knots? In what sea conditions can they be launched anyway?
1: ASW helo has high mobility (150 kts) but lacks endurance (4-6 hrs, one flight in a day if it is continuous, not surge, I guess). Only a half the fleet can be deployed on a ship, and they need 6-9 units to keep 24hr/7days operation. In short, it needs 12-18 units to keep one on flight.
2: Drones such as SeaGull (SeaHunter) has an endurance of 4 days (weeks), and I think a half can be deployed. In short, it needs 2-3 units to keep one on station. 5-10 times better. (But, these drones lacks mobility, say ~15 knts in transit, 10 times worse)
Clearly these two differs a lot.
I think ASW drones are good at, long endurance, sustained, shallow water operation.
- Can be regarded as a powerful (FLASH) (or even CAPTAS-1 in SeaHunter class?) sonobuoy, which can move around.
- Or a slowly moving ASW Helo, with "10 times" longer endurance and "10 times" better availability, but 10 times less dash speed.
On the other hand, how to deploy, sustain, how reliable they are, (= system reliability) all these issues need testing. Surely conclusion of RN and (for example) Swedish navy will differ. But, if it is Channel, North Sea, Irish sea, and Persian gulf, it may work?
I suspect clearing the choke points can be better done with ASW drones (SSK can even use tides to move in without noise), while hunting SSN in blue water can be much better done with ASW helo.Agree to Caribbean-san. It is just like saying, HMS Ocean can be easily upgraded to be a QECV. Or, T31 can be easily upgraded to T26 standard. Or, Hawk T2 can be easily upgraded to be Gripped NG. No they cannot.Caribbean wrote:I would have to disagree with you there. The B2s would need significant upgrades to be a T31 equivalent. They both have their place, but at different levelsRepulse wrote:the difference between 5 B2s with some minor upgrades and the T31 IMO isn’t worth £1.25bn
If I told the world I'd invented a new ASW helicopter that's really, really slow, flies really, really low and can only operate in benign sea states, I think the world would think I am quite mad.
If the mother ship detects a submarine at say, 40 miles, it would take one of these speedboats the better part of three hours getting launched and chugging its way to the contact. Chances the sub is still there: zero.
Or you want to surround the QE with a half a dozen of these boats to form an inner screen? Chances they can keep station with the carrier transiting at fleet speed through the bay of Biscay - once again: zero.
Ah but the old favorite, the coastal water "choke point" near a port or vulnerable coastline. Probably already has a network of permanently placed seabed sensors that function 24xx7x365 regardless of weather.