Having achieved significant success in the development, production and combat use of unmanned aircraft systems, Turkey is extending its competence in the unmanned field to the marine environment. Currently, Ankara supports several competing projects for the creation of modern unmanned combat boats (BEC). According to the military and political leadership of Turkey, these initiatives will strengthen the country's naval power in the face of increasing tension over maritime disputes.
The philosophy of the use of unmanned boats
The relevance and perspective of the BEC theme has been confirmed during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. As you know, on October 29, 2022, the armed forces of Ukraine struck a group of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, nine unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and seven unmanned boats participated in the attack. The actions of this unmanned group were coordinated by the American drone RQ-4B "Global Hawk" (Global Hawk). Presumably, specialists from the UK participated in the organization of the attack. The result of the operation was the damage received by the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the frigate Admiral Makarov and the minesweeper Ivan Golubets.
BACK, who participated in the attack on Sevastopol in October 2022
According to Turkish experts, the incident not only became the first example of combat interaction between air and sea robots in military history, but also marked the horizons of a future war at sea. As an active member of NATO, Turkey is directly involved in the development of promising concepts, strategies and tactics for the use of the Alliance's Navy. In general, the views of the NATO Naval Command on the use of forces and assets at sea are reduced to conducting network-centric operations in version 2.0 and three-dimensional missions.
In particular, it is believed that in the coming years, the maritime combat space will be determined by three main factors. First, the "hot zone" will become more dispersed than ever. Secondly, highly efficient weapons systems and sensors will begin to dominate the seas, which will lead to the emergence of marine reconnaissance and strike complexes. These new capabilities, complemented by artificial intelligence (AI), will provide complex data processing and transmission over long distances, and, most importantly, a powerful high-precision attack. Finally, network–centric warfare is likely to be replaced by the "network of networks" paradigm (the term "megaset" is also used), combining unmanned systems, inter-domain means of warfare, air, surface and underwater communication lines, algorithmic warfare nodes, space assets, cybersecurity and electronic warfare (EW) - all in one super-dispersed combat mega-network.
It is planned that the uninhabited naval complexes will perform reconnaissance tasks, surface and anti-submarine warfare, naval air defense, and participate in special operations. They will also be able to act as sensor nodes for large fleets and operational groups. Thanks to its advanced algorithms and autonomous functions, robot warships will be able to act intelligently and adapt to a rapidly changing battlefield.
Unmanned Humpback boat
Relying on new neural network and machine learning technologies, Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) equipped with various sensors, weapons and other payloads will be able to operate remotely in semi-autonomous or even completely autonomous mode. In comparison with traditional manned platforms, the BEC is usually cheaper to build and operate, since they do not need the premises or auxiliary equipment necessary to support the life of the crew. In this regard, it seems that BECs are particularly suitable for long-term missions that exhaust human operators on board, or risky tasks with a high probability of injury, capture or death of the crew. In Western military terminology, such tasks fall under the category of "three D" ('three D'), namely: boring /monotonous (dull), dirty (dirty) or dangerous (dangerous).
According to NATO experts, uninhabited (unmanned) naval systems have the potential to simplify inter-domain integration, improve the capabilities of combat platforms and combat networks. In addition, they are an excellent help in overcoming the problems associated with the creation of restricted access zones/restricted zones (A2/AD). In conditions of increased risk, the BACK reduces it by dispersing capabilities to small hard-to-reach nodes and expanding tactical choice by creating new concepts for the use of funds.
According to the head of the Turkish Defense Industry Department, Ismail Demir, currently "unmanned solutions are at the forefront of Turkey's defense strategy." In his opinion, in the foreseeable future, in the segment of unmanned boats, thanks to new projects, Ankara will become a key player in shaping the future of the "unmanned combat space".
To be continued…
According to the materials of the resource edam.org.tr
