The discussion of the “other mine warfare” begun by Admiral James Winnefeld and Captain Nadeem Syed Ahmadin the July Proceedings, and advanced by Captain Hans Lynch with a comment and discussion in the August issue, offers good insight. That said, it may be helpful to provide some amplifying information, explaining how offensive mine warfare is beginning to transform into multidomain offensive and defensive capabilities from the seabed.
These new asymmetric warfighting capabilities build a more lethal force using advanced autonomous systems. Instead of minefields—comprised of some number of individual mines, however “smart” or “dumb”—new concepts now call for prepositioned undersea canisters with flexible, encapsulated payloads (unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles, missiles, torpedoes, etc.) as part of a distributed “kill web” providing scalable effects from the seabed. Such a persistent system of disposable payloads can be delivered by either clandestine or overt vessels and vehicles of opportunity.
Such a system supports the strategy of fielding capabilities faster—by means of rapid maturation of unmanned systems and payloads in months, rather than in business-as-usual years.
These encapsulated payloads could be used to engage targets for the whole joint force, including forcible entry operations from the sea. They also could enable layered force-protection options for expeditionary advance base operations. The seabed devices would be configurable with multiple types of effectors used to delay and disrupt enemy maneuver and planning or attrite forces as needed.
NavSea image.
Most of the required technologies are ready for integration in an initial demonstration. In fact, the Navy has teamed with the Army to propose a joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) to start in fiscal year 2019 that leverages the Naval Sea Systems Command (NavSea) Warfare Center’s smart mine prototypes alongside other Navy and Army science and technology investments. For instance, a smart mine–encapsulated UAV swarm is being developed that will launch from inshore waterways to support Army missions in dense urban environments. A deep-water canister will provide multiple effects against traditional naval threats. (The proposed JCTD is called “Dragon SLAER” for “sea and land-attack encapsulation with remote control.”)
As more advanced autonomy becomes available, the seabed fields will become more intelligent and be able to survive heavily contested environments. They will discriminate among targets accurately, apply scalable effects (including swarms), and self-heal. Changing the mix of payloads in different field configurations will enable innovative missions.
These advanced mining and other seabed-based systems have begun to challenge the Navy’s current view of mine warfare. They promise to provide effects across the range of strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war and ultimately may provide commanders with affordable, scalable maritime mining options to shape the sea, air, and land battlespace.
Dr. Adair is the director of wine warfare and is responsible for leading NavSea Warfare Center engagements with the fleet to foster the acceleration and fielding of advanced warfare capabilities.