Although uninhabited maritime vehicles (UMVs) are not exactly new, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is emerging as the same kind of catalyst for their adoption that the war in Afghanistan was for uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs). Ukraine has shown the asymmetric advantage a smaller navy can gain from innovative use of UMVs to fend off larger, more conventional platforms. While such technology is proving positive for Ukraine in menacing Russia’s navy, the tactics Kyiv is employing also illustrate the headache such systems pose for top-tier navies in regions such as the Gulf, where the potential for UMVs to act as loitering torpedoes or overwhelm a ship’s defences via a swarm attack pose a threat to both commercial shipping and military vessels.
Navies around the globe – from the Black Sea to the Gulf, to the Indo-Pacific, to the United States – are embracing the technology across a diverse mission set. While UMVs appear to be completely different entities from their traditional ship counterparts, they are increasingly being used alongside each other. The US Navy’s Task Force 59 in the Gulf and the Red Sea, for instance, is showing the synthesis between uninhabited vehicles and crewed ships in delivering on operations.
Many UMV applications are still experimental, but the technology, in some form or another, is here to stay. With UMVs set to become a key feature of future naval power, the Military Balance+ database is starting to track how these systems are making their way into naval inventories.
What are UMVs?Within Military Balance+, UMVs fall into two principal categories: uninhabited platforms and uninhabited systems. The former are larger and may complement more traditional naval vessels. The US Navy’s Sea Hunter uninhabited surface vessel (USV) or the Republic of Singapore Navy’s Protector USV, for instance, are popular examples of the technology. Uninhabited systems, by contrast, typically work with other systems and equipment to achieve an effect. Typical examples include the SeaFox mine identification and disposal vehicles, or the REMUS family of sensor systems.
Both uninhabited platforms and systems fall into two operational types – USVs and their subsurface counterparts, uninhabited underwater vehicles (UUVs).
The Military Balance+ database classifies both uninhabited platforms and systems into five categories:
Maritime Security – those performing more traditional remits such as patrol or interceptor roles.
Military Data Gathering – with a primary purpose to collect information on the maritime environment. This may encompass more than one traditional role, such as hydrographic or oceanographic survey, or mine warfare environment inspection.
Mine Warfare – for vehicles used in identification or disposal of sea mines. This includes vehicles that have a Military Data Gathering role exclusively oriented towards mine-identification.
Technology Demonstrator – those identified as having a clear military capability and operational role, but whose purpose is more oriented towards demonstrating and maturing a capability than performing front-line duties.
Utility – for vehicles that either do not fit into any of the above classifications, or for those that cover two or more of the above classifications.
Toe in the waterWhile navies are increasingly incorporating UMVs into their equipment inventories, many of these vehicles remain experimental. An analysis of Military Balance+ data on some top-tier navies shows that almost three-quarters of uninhabited platforms are assessed to be ‘Experimental but Available for Operations’.
Navies appear further along in their thinking when it comes to uninhabited systems, where only 17 out of 134 of those analysed are assessed to be ‘Experimental but Available for Operations’ and a full 87% are operational and officially in use in naval inventories amongst the countries analysed. That reflects, in part, the more mature nature of the use of such systems in mine warfare applications since the early 2000s.
The most common classification for uninhabited platforms is 'Maritime Security', illustrating to some extent how well-suited these systems can be for dull but essential monitoring work. For uncrewed systems, mine warfare is the dominant application.
Just over two-thirds (71%) of uninhabited platforms in our assessment are surface vehicles. Because mine warfare features so prominently in the use of remote systems, those designs typically are UUVs.
Full steam aheadEven before the war in Ukraine, the proliferation of UMVs in areas such as mine warfare and military data gathering over the past 20 years set the technology up for wider adoption in more traditional maritime security roles in navies, large and small. The US Navy in particular has major plans to incorporate UMVs into its future fleet mix. Kyiv’s success has merely supercharged those dynamics by demonstrating the ability to mix low-cost technology with great operational effect.
Still, big issues remain for naval forces and the future of UMVs, including how to maintain the right balance between traditional naval platforms and UMVs to meet operational needs. Finally, another issue that will need to be addressed is how to introduce cost-effective defences against these systems.
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