Compass Points - Warship in a Box

Launch the Dunkirk fleet.

Compass Points - Warship in a Box

Launch the Dunkirk fleet.

June 16, 2025

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Can civilian ships come to the rescue?

In the early days of World War II the British Expeditionary Force was trapped in France at Dunkirk. It looked like the entire army would be destroyed. The British Navy could not come to the rescue, so there was no way out -- or was there?

It took citizen action. Ordinary citizens climbed into their own boats and came to the rescue. An impromptu fleet of civilian commercial and pleasure craft, steamed across the English Channel to Dunkirk. The civilian fleet instantly augmented the British Navy and as a result, more than 300,000 BEF soldiers were rescued.

Perhaps the US and allies today need to augment their military warships with a civilian Dunkirk fleet.

There is no doubt the US needs more warships on the oceans of the worlds. But lack of shipyards, construction crews, money, and time make it impossible to add more than a handful of new ships each year for the next few years.

What if the US could augment the military fleet with a civilian Dunkirk fleet? It all begins with putting warfighting missiles, drones, and sensors into standard maritime shipping containers and then placing the containers on commercial vessels. Warship in a box.

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Pulling Containerized Systems into a Warship in a Box

Containers are the basis of goods movement globally, available in numbers and able to fit on a wide range of vessel types and sizes. Containers with military capabilities can be hardwired together to form a complete system or connected with Wi-Fi in some applications to reduce vulnerability to connection loss due to battle damage.

. . . The containers that comprise “Warship-in-a-Box” would be loaded onto an appropriate-sized civilian-built ship . . .

. . . Unlike traditional warships requiring individual weapon system reloads, the warship in a box is defined by its self-contained, containerized capabilities.

. . . Like current uncrewed navy ships that are starting to exploit containerized weapons, the warship-in-a-box concept would be deployed for exercises and some contingencies, but would essentially be a “break glass in the event of war” capability to rapidly augment the fleet with additional vessels for warfighting missions depending on numbers and types of containers embarked. They could range in size from large container missile arsenal ships with dozens or hundreds of weapons to offshore resupply ships with only four to six containers supporting one or two basic missions. The Navy has already experimented with shipping container weapons on conventional warships, so moving to a vessel with all capabilities housed in containers is a logical next step.

-- CIMSEC

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Could remotely controlled containerized missiles, sensors and drones on civilian platforms actually become military assets in war? Containerized attacks have already proven themselves in the fighting between Ukraine and Russia.

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A Ukrainian drone strike operation using disguised cargo containers has shattered Moscow’s strategic airpower. It may have blindsided Washington as well.

In a stunning maneuver, Ukraine has launched a coordinated series of deep strikes into Russian territory using containerized drones. Striking military airfields and critical assets across several locations (Olenya Air Base in the Murmansk region, Belaya Air Base in the Irkutsk region, Ivanovo Air Base in the Ivanovo region, and Dyagilevo Air Base in the Ryazan region), the attacks mark the first time since the Second World War that a European power has projected force this far into the Russian interior with such technological precision and asymmetric intent.

There were no paratroopers, no dramatic tank thrusts through the frontier, just unmarked cargo containers parked inconspicuously at truck stops and the side of the road, cracking open to unleash squadrons of long-range UAVs programmed with ruthless efficiency. Within minutes, at least 40 aircraft were reportedly damaged or destroyed on the ground, including Tu-22 and Tu-95 bombers—both of them nuclear-capable.

-- The National Interest

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Containerized missiles, drones, and sensors hidden in standard containers and loaded on commercial ships could instantly expand the at-sea deterrent force of the US and allies.

There are roughly 100,000 commercial ships worldwide, including general cargo ships, container ships, barge carriers, bulk carriers, oil tankers and chemical tankers.About 10% of those vessels belong to China and Russia, but tens of thousands belong to the US and allies. That means the US could rapidly place military missiles, drones, and sensors in container sets onboard as many as 10,000 ships.

With at least 3 containers loaded on the deck of a commercial ship, one missile container, one drone swarm container, and one sensor / jammer container, the Chinese or other adversaries could never be sure if the next passing ship had the ability to immediately strike targets at sea and on shore.

How could the US quickly manufacture 10,000 missiles, 10,000 drone swarms, and 10,000 sensors/ jammer systems to fit inside the 10,000 sets of containers? The US does not have to fill each container. It simply needs to place what it claims are 10,000 sets of missile, drone swarm, and sensor/jammers on 10,000 commercial ships and then demonstrate how easy missiles and drones can be remotely fired from the containers. China will be left to guess which containers are loaded with actual missiles, drone swarms, and sensor/jammer systems and which are only decoys. Either way, China is deterred.

In the early days of World War II, the British military at Dunkirk was saved by civilian ships. Now with the warship in a box capability, the US and allies could be rapidly augmented by civilian commercial ships loaded with containerized missiles, drones, and sensor/jammers. Time to expand the fleet and expand the deterrence to hostile nations worldwide. A rapid increase in deterrence and in warfighting capabilities can begin with warship in a box.

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CIMSEC - 11/11/2024

Weaponized Containers: A Warship-in-a-Box for Warfighting Advantage

By Steve Wills

https://cimsec.org/weaponized-containers-a-warship-in-a-box-for-warfighting-advantage/

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The National Interest - 06/02/2025

How Ukraine’s Drone Strike Changed the Rules of War

By Carlos Roa

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-ukraines-drone-strike-changed-the-rules-of-war

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Atlas Magazine

The world merchant fleet

https://www.atlas-mag.net/en/category/tags/focus/the-world-merchant-fleet