Autonomous Sensor Platforms and the Impact on Future Naval Operations

Transcription

1 Autonomous Sensor Platforms and the Impact on Future Naval Operations Simon Willmore Deputy Head of Combat System Engineering

2 Contents The problem getting from today to the future in a single ship Today Mine Hunting Operations Concept of Operations Mine Hunting Next Gen Platforms MCM Concept Launch and Recovery UUV, USV and UAV Future Platforms Dreadnaught 2050 Command and Control

3 Unmanned Systems and the Naval Environment

4 The Problem The problem getting from today to the future in a single ship Platform and Vehicles Not Integrated Vehicles Integrated with the Platform Highly Integrated Vehicles with Platform As a Mothership Today

5 Today Mine Hunting Detection and Classification

6 Today Mine Hunting Localisation and Identify

7 Today Mine Hunting Neutralisation

8 Today Mine Hunting Channel Cleared

9 Future Concept of Operations Take the manned ship out of danger Use lots of vehicles to Detect and Classify a wide area Concurrent operations in the mine field in different zone Use unmanned vehicles to Detect, Classify, Localise, Identify and Neutralise Edge of Mine Danger Area

10 Next Generation Mine Clearance Vessel More than just un-integrated vehicles but technology to immature to fully realise potential Platform and Vehicles Not Integrated Vehicles Integrated with the Platform Highly Integrated Vehicles with Platform As a Mothership

11 Next Generation Mine Clearance Vessel Needs to operate a range of vehicles, but how many? Can any type of vessel just operate these unmanned vehicles? How close is the vessel to the minefield? How do I launch and recover these vehicles? How do I communicate with these vehicles? Are the vehicles over the horizon?

12 Launching and Recovery What is the best way to launch and recover a USV/UUV? Via a crane? How big is the crane? Does it effect platform stability? Stern ramps? How big and how many vehicles can you operate at the same time? Boat davits? Can a USV or UUV connect itself to a davit?

13 Launching and Recovery Most small warships have a flight deck optimised for helicopters and are not suitable for winged vehicles. Various research studies looking into concepts for launch and recovery of winged aircraft: DARPA / ONR looking at a concept of a vehicle that takes off like a helicopter and then flies like a plane. Another approach has been to look at how birds land by perching from a controlled stall.

14 Bristol Robotics Lab / BMT Defence Services Perching Research Working with Bristol University, BMT Defence Services used deep reinforcement learning to generate a perching trajectory for a variable sweep wing aircraft in order to investigate alternatives to landing a fixed wing UAV in urban and maritime environments.

15 Future Platforms Full integration and manned and unmanned platforms working together Platform and Vehicles Not Integrated Vehicles Integrated with the Platform Highly Integrated Vehicles with Platform As a Mothership

16 Future Platforms Tethered UAVs to extend sensor range of platform Tethered UAV / Aerostat to provide greater sensor range Flexible design to allow for a variety of roles / missions

17 Future Platforms Multiple Concurrent UAV Operations UAVs of different shapes and sizes needed for a range of missions. Ability to land and take off autonomously with little or no human interaction Automated air traffic management

18 Future Platforms Multiple UUV and USV Operations Launching and recovery of UUVs and USVs to be major function of most vessels Extensive storage and repair facilities needed Range of deployment options from moon pools, docks, stern ramps for a range of different vehicle sizes.

19 Command and Control How do you control all these vehicles Information overload on human operators Information is needed to support decision making not be a burden Combat System likely to present options rather than all the data Mission planning of individual vehicles to be given over to an automated system to achieve a mission How do the vehicles get resupplied with fuel, energy or munitions? What impact does this have on the ship? Do command structures alter if significant amounts of work are performed by a computer? How does the legislation need to change to enable this?

20 The Challenge Designing for the future whilst the world around you changes Platform and Vehicles Not Integrated Vehicles Integrated with the Platform Highly Integrated Vehicles with Platform As a Mothership

21 Questions? Copyright Statement Copyright by BMT Defence Services All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of BMT Defence Services. Where content has not been produced by BMT Defence Services, we have sought the appropriate authorisation for its use and does not constitute an infringement of copyright.