Compass Points - Deep Dive XLUUV
Diving down with the XLUUV
Compass Points - Deep Dive XLUUV
Diving down with the XLUUV
January 4, 2025
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Sunday is a good day for reflection and perhaps a good day to take a dive into what is going on round the world with underwater drones.
There is no doubt that one of the most discussed advances in combat technology is drones. Modern drones range from small and light flying drones, to ground drones, and to surface and subsurface water drones. With every new type of drone, new defenses and new counters have been developed. In a very short time, drones have become larger, more capable, and more dangerous. Newsweek is reporting that Philippine fishermen have recovered what appears to be small Chinese underwater drone.
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An unmanned underwater drone was discovered in waters near San Pascual in the province of Masbate, at approximately 6 a.m. on December 30, Police Brig. General Andre Dizon of the Bicol Region Philippine National Police told The Manila Times.
The yellow device, marked HY-119, was identified as Chinese-made. Dizon noted that such vehicles are used by China for communication and navigation. The drone was sent to Philippine navy forces on Luzon Island for further examination.
-- Newsweek
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China's underwater drones go far beyond the small drone recovered in Philippine waters. Naval News has reported on the XLUUV - Extra Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles.
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Extra large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUVs) are quickly becoming a major trend in naval warfare. Leading navies have initiated programs to develop and explore these. Currently, the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy appear to be in the lead, both in experimentation and in orders.
But China too has been working on this capability. China has at least 5 designs in the water, many more than any other navy. But their development has been shrouded in secrecy.
-- Naval News
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It appears that China maybe arming its extra-large underwater drones with torpedoes.
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Arming autonomous underwater vehicles with weapons which require target identification, such as torpedoes, is problematic. It increases risks of blue on blue (or for China, red on red) accidents.
It also raises ethical and legal questions about human out of the loop kill chains. This is because underwater vehicles like this cannot realistically be controlled by humans. They have to be autonomous, so the decision to shoot the torpedo has to be automated.
However, China appears more comfortable than other nations to take these risks.
-- Naval News
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The US is not standing still. The US Navy is pushing ahead to build it own underwater fleet.
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Among the Navy’s programs for developing and acquiring unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) of various sizes are programs for developing two large USVs—the Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle (LUSV) and Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV)—and a program for a large UUV called the Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV), also known as Orca. The Navy wants to develop and acquire LUSVs, MUSVs, and XLUUVs as part of an effort to shift the Navy to a more distributed fleet architecture, meaning a mix of ships that spreads the Navy’s capabilities over an increased number of platforms and avoids concentrating a large portion of the fleet’s overall capability into a relatively small number of high-value ships (i.e., a mix of ships that avoids “putting too many eggs into one basket”). The Navy’s proposed FY2025 budget requests $54.0 million in research and development (R&D) funding for the LUSV program, $101.8 million in R&D funding for the MUSV program, $92.9 million in R&D funding for LUSV/MUSV enabling capabilities, $21.5 million in R&D funding for the XLUUV program, and $68.2 million in additional R&D funding for core technologies for UUVs including but not limited to XLUUV.
-- LUSV. The Navy envisions LUSVs as being 200 feet to 300 feet in length and having full load displacements of 1,000 tons to 2,000 tons, which would make them the size of a corvette…
-- MUSV. The Navy defines MUSVs as being less than 200 feet in length, with displacements of less than 500 tons, which would make them the size of a patrol craft . . .
-- XLUUV. XLUUVs are roughly the size of a subway car. The Navy wants to use XLUUVs to, among other things, covertly deploy the Hammerhead mine . . .
-- CRS, Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
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Using XLUUVs the US Navy can patrol very close to China's coast armed with missiles and torpedoes. XLUUVs can deploy programmable undersea mines that can be turned on, off, and back on again. The underwater mines can then be programmed to swim from one location to another. XLUUVs can monitor sea lanes and provide constant data on sea traffic.
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XLUUVs have nearly unlimited potential. XLUUVs could easily accomplish so many of the tasks that Marine missile units scattered in the Pacific are tasked with. But there is one mission the uncrewed underwater drones can never begin to accomplish. The XLUUVs can never be a highly flexible and highly capable Marine Air Group Task Force.
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Part of the constant deterrent value of a Marine MAGTF embarked on Navy amphibious ships, is that it is not underwater. The MAGTF is crewed with US Marines, Marines who have been trained and equipped to respond to a wide variety of missions. When a crisis erupts and a MAGTF arrives offshore, the mere arrival of Marines will often calm the crisis. Marines can then go ashore as needed to provide more targeted deterrence, badly needed assistance, and creative, combined arms combat.
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Compass Points salutes the Navy's silent service that does so much to keep the US strong and salutes all those working to develop the potential of the XLUUVs.
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Compass Points thanks all those who are still shining a light on the Marine Corps and working toward upgraded and restored Marine crisis response capabilities, and thanks all our readers who served as seminar leaders this week by providing topics, articles, and comments. Many thanks!
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Newsweek - 01/04/2025
Chinese Submarine Drone Discovered in US Ally's Waters
https://www.newsweek.com/china-news-submarine-discovered-philippine-waters-2009118
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Naval News - 02/23/2023
China Reveals New Heavily Armed Extra-Large Uncrewed Submarine
New evidence points to China's XLUUV (extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles) being armed with torpedoes. This is a significant leap in this space and, together with a large-scale development program, may be out-pacing the West.
By H I Sutton
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CRS - 12/19/2024
Navy Large Unmanned Surface and Undersea Vehicles: Background and Issues for Congress
By Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45757
The use of maritime drones that cover submersible, surface and air is only limited by our imagination and funding. The communications linkage is problematic but advances in AI as currently used in drones provided by Germany to Ukraine open new possibilities and threats. Drones can linger on the ocean bottoms for long periods of time until activated and deployed. These are all the logical, technological advances of torpedoes, mines, missiles and rockets. The ethical considerations in their use are certainly only considered by western cultures. The Russians, Chinese, N Koreans and Iraqis will not be hindered by those considerations. We simply must develop our own, highly lethal versions, develop defenses to enemy efforts, sabotage enemy production and, when the time comes, destroy the facilities where they are created. I suspect each of these domains is fractured and not developed in a synergistic way under a single leader.
One thing is certain. Ships in ports are the most vulnerable which suggests they be underway for long periods of time to be less vulnerable and unpredictable.
H.I. Sutton www.hisutton.com Covert Shores is a good open source for submersibles.