World Naval Developments

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^^evv Computer Enhances Targeting

Aircraft introduced a new pro- ^f0rProce«; ^Parallel -processor computer ^cati°_ns . ^SIn8 '^mages. Announced appli- tion, targ ^C| ^Ut*^{£ automat}i^c target recogni- ^ent. The u^trac^'ⁿ§’ ^and image enhance- itigh-_Sp_e , ^as'^s the new machine is very •echnoiogv ^lnte§^rated circuit (VHSIC)

°f extre^l ^w^ich allows the construction k Used to⁶ ^ ^{SmaP com}P^uters which can P^arallel ^.?^rocess elements of an image in '^{S to} com ^{£ prob}*^em >ⁿ image processing ^l0rted a_n[f^are.^an °hject that may be dis- "'ith a _stQ ^'^ch is certainly at an angle ^Sl°^red ini ^t'^vo'^di^mensi°nal image. The

^Can be n_r “^{e must} manipulated until it                                      HUGHES AIHCHAET

Quires e_n ^Per ^ ^comP^ared to the received image; such manipulation re­^Can Perfti⁰¹¹⁸^ c°mplex computations. That the human eye and brain ^e^°rt) j_s k ,.^{tbe same} task virtually instantly (and without conscious ^c"tSsi_c cn ^S'^de ®*^e Point: image (or pattern) recognition has long been a

^ThcHuPh^{Uter problem}-

^SUCcessf_uif^{neS mac}hine was developed for the Air Force, and in tests it ^armored ^ ^d'^s,‘nguished thermal images of tanks, trucks, jeeps, and ^chini*¹^⁰¹¹¹¹⁶* ^carriers. This success should mean that a pilot ap- >1           ^{8 an e}nemy vehicle formation will eventually not have to wait

*'°ⁿ in tt,³¹¹ ^^ec’^de which vehicles to attack, thus risking his own destruc-

This tech^PT^eSS‘.

^a«ac_{k m}- nology is probably the key to future fire-and-forget ground-

Th_{e s} ^Slles> several of which are reportedly under development. ^e,tatnp]_e ^{e tec}hnology has important potential naval applications. For Mother ’ny" ^antislliP missile that could distinguish one type of ship from ^ips. q_u '^8bt he launched successfully into a mixed force of enemy ^gest) .^{ITent rada}r-seeker missiles can be attracted by the first (or the ^,arget. ^{ar8et l}hey detect, and therefore may miss the most important

Sig_na]

^rec°gnition processing also has important ASW applicati

^ Steps Up Acquisition Program

'j'h

^^eady ^‘*itary Sealift Command (MSC) called for offers of additional ^Cl'^ase the^{eSerVe p}*^eeI (RRR ships in late July; the MSC expects to pur- T l9g-y ^s®^ships during fiscal year 1987, to be taken over by 30 Septem

bar

"■H be gx y^ RRF currently consists of 75 ships; by October 1986, there

^lhe N_a.

fjiij. dhe goal (by fiscal year 1992) is 120 ships.

\_avv , ¹ P^art of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, is paid for by ⁸ '^ntender|^{Ut 0Wne}d ^and maintained by the Maritime Administration. It fc^Ve and ^{2 for Past} activation in an emergency and supplements the ac- I ^st’                  fleet. Thus, the RRF responds to two problems.

built y- ddrne Administration fleet is aging. It includes World War K°darn _v^1Cl0ry ships of limited capacity and speed compared to more “rite,- use^eSS£*^S' Newer ships are much more efficient, and can make That _c °^{P a} hmited pool of potential wartime mariners.

^cbniitg y^0as'deration is prompted by the very serious problem of a de- P^robl_etTls’ ^a 'flag (and, for that matter, NATO-flag) merchant fleet. Both ^C°ⁿnecti ^{Were ev}'dent in studies of U. S. strategic sealift carried out in f_{0r n}ⁿ with the formation of the Rapid Deployment Force and plan- naval amphibious ships. The Navy had expected to be able

to

^r new

0rr,_s . ^essential follow-up materiel in commercial bottoms, but the The                   ^not he available.

^ential need for more merchant ships is emphasized by a basic

change in U. S. policy over the past five years. The Reagan Administra­tion has focused on the possibility that even a major war might stop short of a nuclear exchange, turning instead into a protracted non-nuclear con­flict—more like World War II than an apocalyptic World War 111. A short war ending in a nuclear stalemate would require relatively little resupply, beyond materiel stored in Europe; a long, conventional war would be very different. U. S. and NATO forces fighting in Europe would have to be resupplied in great quantity. The U. S. Navy would have to fight another Battle of the Atlantic—which would surely entail major losses of merchant shipping.

By purchasing existing merchant ships (for the RRF) in a very soft market, the Navy has been able to build up a substantial reserve of mod­ern vessels at a relatively low cost. This policy has been somewhat con­troversial because the soft market has also severely damaged the U. S. shipbuilding industry. U. S. shipbuilders have called for a new construc­tion program similar, perhaps, to that initiated by the Maritime Commis­sion in 1936. They argue that without a viable base, merchant shipbuild­ing (which might be essential to replace wartime losses) could not be revived in an emergency. However, any such program (which has been proposed several times) would be difficult to finance in a period of fiscal stringency.

For now, the long-term MSC purchase program (in priority order) calls for;

• 20 clean product tankers (20,000-50,000 deadweight tons); the RRF currently has seven
• Fast (more than 20 knots) breakbulk ships, which can later be modi­fied for underway replenishment of ammunition and other cargo; they will supplement specialized underway replenishment ships
• Semi-submersible heavy-lift (float-on, float-off) ships (for individual items weighing more than 1,000 tons): In October 1985, the MSC chartered the ex-tanker American Cormorant for 18 months to test the Flo- Flo concept. She can carry up to 45,000 tons on her cargo deck, and has transported a complete offshore oil drilling

rig. In MSC service, she is act- ‘                                                       AMERICAN AUTOMAR. INC.

ing as a component of the prepositioning force at Diego Garcia, with a deckload of Army craft: four utility landing craft (LCUs), ten Mark-8 mechanized landing craft (LCMs), four 107-foot tugs, two 140 x 70-foot floating cranes, two lighter aboard ship (LASH) barges, and associated cargo-handling equipment. Other possible cargos include off­shore oil unloading systems and floating piers, or, in other scenarios, up to four ocean minesweepers or damaged ships.

• 12 containerships suitable for crane ship conversion, to unload con- tainerships at a port without suitable facilities (The RRF currently in­cludes three such ships; three are being converted under fiscal year 1986 funding; and two per year are planned for fiscal years 1987-89. Such conversions become more and more important as break-bulk ships, which can unload themselves with their own booms, vanish from West­ern shipping fleets.)
• Roll-on, roll-off cargo ships (They initially enjoyed a higher priority, but the RRF recently added 13 large, modem units and has nearly ful­filled its requirements).

Under fiscal year 1986 funding, four LASH and three SEA BEE barge cargo ships were acquired, although their military utility is less than that of other modern merchant types. The MSC will accept foreign-built Flo- Flo and Ro-Ro ships and foreign-built tankers, but the other types must be U. S.-built. Foreign-built ships must be recertified to U. S. require­ments and prepared for layup in U. S. yards.

“^{8s /} November 1986

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