The dramatic successes achieved in U.S. actions against al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan again highlighted the nation's need for forward-deployed forces capable of attacking and systematically destroying enemy centers of gravity, however asymmetrical they may be. Not surprisingly, our leaders place a premium on surveillance and intelligence assets and weapons capable of putting timely, accurate, and effective ordnance on land targets.
Ongoing U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan clearly reaffirm the continuing need for advanced weapon systems—especially precision-guided munitions that can support multiple missions across the range of conflicts. This requirement includes the U.S. Navy's revamped DD(X) future surface combatant program with an advanced gun system (AGS) that will provide high-volume precision fire support to future land-attack missions.
During Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States has been afforded broad international support because of the inhumane nature of the 11 September attacks and effective U.S. diplomatic efforts. We have been granted access to the air bases and air space necessary to support offensive operations. If history is any guide, however, this situation will not always be the case. The United States must persist in its relentless pursuit of terrorist networks for years—if not decades—to come. At the same time, its armed forces must be prepared to confront other adversaries who may attempt to deny them access to bases and compel them to conduct forcible-entry operations. Thus, the latest Quadrennial Defense Review acknowledges the changing realities of the 21st century by directing transformational efforts to capabilities-based forces, such as the Navy's DD(X) program and its concurrent AGS project.
21st-Century Vision
In early November 2001, the Navy—in response to the Office of the Secretary of Defense—changed the direction of DD-21 development and created the DD(X) program. It will produce a family of advanced technology surface combatants needed to support future joint combat operations and expeditionary maneuver warfare in the world's littorals. The DD(X) program will take the spiral (evolutionary) design approach to development that incorporates the latest technologies.
The design of the first series of DD(X) combatants will gain leverage from such DD-21 documentation as the concept of operations and approved mission scenarios. Significantly, the DD(X) design continues to emphasize support of operations ashore; it must demonstrate the ability to complete the land-attack missions as described in the DD-21 approved mission scenarios and operational situations. In addition, the first series of the DD(X) will have the advanced technologies developed for the DD-21, which include the SPY-3 volume-search radar and the AGS with its long-range guided projectiles. The DD(X) program office is leading the way and has organized a broad, multi-disciplined team made up of various government representatives and an industry team led by Northrop Grumman-Raytheon.
Advanced Gun System Capabilities
The AGS will complement any missile systems to be incorporated in the DD(X) design. Together they will enable the DD(X) to deliver a high volume of sustainable (and affordable) precision fire for combat operations deep inland as well as in the littorals. Each DD(X) will be equipped with two separate advanced gun systems with automated weapon-handling and storage systems capable of delivering an array of guided and ballistic 155-mm munitions. The AGS's design is being optimized to deliver advanced high-precision munitions from over the horizon to ranges of approximately 100 nautical miles (nm).
The AGS will provide future joint and naval commanders with naval surface fire support that produces the following effects:
- Destruction
- Neutralization
- Suppression of enemy air defenses
- Interdiction
- Harassment
- Screening or obscuration
- Illumination
- Counterfire and counterbattery
The primary developer of the AGS system is United Defense LP, which has been building naval guns for U.S. and foreign fleets for more than 50 years. The AGS will establish a path for further growth and improvement by inserting new technology throughout its operating life cycle. Among the technologies being added to its design are:
- A dual-purpose slip ring that transfers fluids, electrical power, and data
- Servo amplifiers and electric drive motors that preclude the need for hydraulics
- An integrated liquid-cooling subsystem that enables guns to operate continuously
Use of all-electric gun drives and digitally controlled servo amplifiers, when combined with fully automated ammunition magazines that can store as many as 1,500 smart rounds per DD(X)—each ship will have two magazines that store 600-750 rounds each—greatly increases the volume of fire that the AGS can deliver as compared to other naval gun systems. These features combine to reduce manpower and maintenance requirements and life-cycle support costs.
Munitions Development
This is the first modern large-caliber naval gun project that includes ammunition as an integral part of gun system development. United Defense LP is responsible for producing the gun and its long-range guided projectiles. So far, the gun system's long-range land-attack projectile (LRLAP) evolution consists of two rounds: high-explosive and a dual-purpose improved conventional munition. By using advanced explosives and propellants and improved manufacturing processes, these rounds and their propellant charges will provide improved warhead lethality and comply with insensitive munitions requirements. Ultimately, a full line of land-attack munitions—and munitions for surface threats—is planned for the AGS. The LRLAP program is in its 26th month of a 28-month competitive demonstration phase. Teams led by Science Applications International Corporation and Raytheon are working toward a "shoot-off ' scheduled for this December.
The naval fire support capabilities of AGS will complement other new systems—for example, the Joint Strike Fighter and MV-22, the littoral combat ship, and the Tactical Tomahawk—thereby providing future joint and naval commanders with a complete array of seabased fire-support options. Sea-based options are critical to maintaining the Navy's operational independence and ensuring adequate fire support will be available day and night, unimpaired by weather and political constraints. The AGS is a revolutionary design on a revolutionary platform that will have many advantages over current naval gun systems:
- Accurate attainment of ranges out to 100 nm (vast improvement over other guns) will enable dispersed DD(X)s to mass fires on critical targets.
- With a liquid-cooled barrel and fully automated magazine, each AGS will have a sustained rate of fire of 720 rounds per hour—two to three times that of current gun systems
- Trajectory shaping will make it possible to attack targets in defilade and on reverse slopes, a huge advantage over other flat-trajectory naval guns; higher trajectories will make it harder for enemy units to locate the ship with counter-fire radars.
- Manipulation of the trajectory and flight path of projectiles permits delivery of multiple-round, simultaneous impact missions with six rounds per gun, thereby reducing the enemy's time to take advantage of sequential posturing and protective cover.
- The munitions will give DD(X)s the flexibility to provide fire support across the range of fire missions and respond to tactical, operational, and strategic objectives.
- Lethality is expressed in terms of M-198 155-mm howitzer-battery equivalence: one DD(X) can deliver 24 rounds on a target in one minute, equaling the sustained rate of fire of two howitzer batteries.
Conclusions
Naval forces must be able to respond to worldwide contingencies ranging from low-intensity, asymmetrical conflicts to general war. Naval gunfire long ago established itself as an accurate and reliable supporting arm, but the advanced gun system is a giant step forward—in lethality, range, volume of fire, and economy. Maneuver forces ashore and supporting forces at sea will be able to operate at great distances from each other; responsiveness to forces ashore and protection of ships at sea will be enhanced immeasurably; and fires will be massed quickly without moving ships to vulnerable stations near the shore.
The AGS offers unprecedented capabilities. It will be a key component of the U.S. weapons arsenal for the next five decades. At a time when the word "transformational" is thrown around all too loosely, it is noteworthy that this gun system represents true change.
Commander Davis, a former naval flight officer, is a senior analyst at United Defense LP in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Colonel Kearns, a former artilleryman, is a principal project engineer for United Defense in Louisville, Kentucky.