Posted on 01/31/2021 9:03:10 AM PST by BenLurkin
... USS Kidd deck log...several mentions of UAVs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones. Although those single-line reports of drones don’t really stand out in the middle of mundane navigation details, contextual information and details make the whole matter more puzzling. Those sightings happened at night and SNOOPIE teams were deployed each time UAVs were observed from the USS Kidd deck....
“The ship’s nautical or otherwise photographic intelligence exploitation (SNOOPIE) team is a reaction team that records and photographs unknown contacts that approach the ship within visual range for both intelligence gathering and documentation."
... USS Kidd deck log...found mentions of UAVs on 4 different occasions. Here is a list of all entries referring to UAVs. (Note : Several other SNOOPIE team deployments are logged but with no reference to drones)
...
“River City is an OPSEC measure used to prevent the release of critical or sensitive information by controlling outgoing communications and network paths from a ship or location while allowing users to perform mission-essential duties. The operations cell of a command or activity makes the decision to set River City conditions...only predesignated essential personnel have communication access in any form to the outside world.“
The next day, as the deck log entry shows, multiple UAVs were observed by the crew.
...
Two other vessels are mentioned in this report :
-The M/V Bass Strait, a bulk carrier registered in Hong Kong, was somehow involved in this incident and from what we can read in this e.mail, the crew likely reported seeing UAVs.
-The ORV Alguita, an ocean research vessel from California, was considered to be a possible suspect in the July 14th/15th UAV situation because of its proximity to the Kidd at the time. Furthermore the Alguita crew had a Phantom 4 commercial drone onboard.
(Excerpt) Read more at parallaxuap.blogspot.com ...
Above all the Navy needs an effective, easy to launch from any ship, manned anti drone aircraft to protect the surface fleet.
In the meantime, the events on Guam in 2019 serve as maybe the most outstanding reminder of how the Pentagon’s fixation on high-end threats, and the huge gold plated weapons programs that are put into play to counter them, have left even those very capabilities remarkably vulnerable to far less advanced attacks.”
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Drone swarm weapons are going to obsolete a lot of countermeasures.
Almost all combat surface ships are floating coffins in the modern technological era. Stealthy drones, as small as seagulls, themselves launched by cruise missiles and directed by a geek in a bunker far from the sea, can sink any ship. Does anyone believe that the current crop of political pole climbing suckup battleship admirals that command the Navy recognize new realities or would risk their perch to do anything?
I'm sure the Chinese & Russians have something similar. Add warhead small warhead targeting phased array antennae - or area denial agent, i.e. NBC - and voila: Warship neutralized.
What then becomes of the entity that sank the ship?
What would be the medium- or long-term benefit gained by sinking a U.S. combat ant vessel?
Seagull sized? That would be a helluva warhead in a one pound package.
How does a seagull sized drone take out an Aegis class destroyer with all its advanced warning tech and defense systems? Damage maybe, but sinking?
Ever seen a video of a Phalanx CIWS in operation? Although a close in defense system and a last resort, they put out a spray of projectiles at 50 rounds per second. I doubt even a stealth drone would survive. I could be out of touch.
Directed energy weapons (lasers) would be very useful against drones.
“What would be the medium- or long-term benefit gained by sinking a U.S. combat ant vessel?”
bragging rights?
Hitting a dozen drones with a kenetic weapon is certainly possible. Hitting 200 or 1,000 would be impossible. A few dozen hitting radar and radio antenna or missile doors makes a mess of a ship’s capabilities to fight back. Small drones can punch holes in a ship, maybe not sink it, but still a mess.
I can’t pick out the UAVs. They must be VERY small.
I think the problem is whether the ships close in defenses could handle 100 or 200 hundred of these things attacking at the same time.
I agree that a small drone with a 1 or 2 pound warhead would do little damage to a ship but it would distract the crew while the enemy did something more sinister, like swarm the ship with fast boats at the same time.
If they start destroying surface ships than the submarine launched strategic weapons start becoming more of a realistic option.
Built into any medium- and long-term scenario is a Tomahawk missile strike at the local sovereign’s military and industrial infrastructure.
Net/net, what are the bragging rights you mention worth?
Ever research the exposive power of 500 grams of plastique explosive? These drones will be small and stealthy. Right now the limiting factor is range, not detection or punch.
It’s the dragonfly UAVs that you’ve seen on the interwebs.
Difficult to detect by radar, small to nonexistent thermal signature, hard to detect acoustic signature at loiter ranges (I do not believe the US military has ever deployed aerial acoustic sensors for the purpose of detecting aircraft, but I could be wrong), zero radio frequency emission coupled with low-energy EMF emissions, homes upon the target’s own radio/radar frequencies, reasonable one-way range, ability to loiter undetected like a mine, low-altitude controlled flight, rapid acceleration in conjunction with terminal attack...
INEXPENSIVE...
SMALL (i.e. limited space for stores)...
SWARMABLE...
Think about it. Coupled with UUVs, deployment of such weapons portends a disaster for our fleet or, as intended, denies our fleet a surface response.
I do not believe that I will be alive to see it, but the next major conflict will be as revolutionary as the end of the battlewagon era.
Then again, things are changing so fast...you never know.
“Stealthy drones, as small as seagulls, themselves launched by cruise missiles and directed by a geek in a bunker far from the sea, can sink any ship.”
With what, their 4 ounces of TNT?
How did the cruise missile get within 500 yds to launch all those little critters?
Some big gaps in that assertion.
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