PRIME program: new unmanned boats for the Pentagon

Uncrewed CUSV boats undergoing testing. Photo by Textron

Various Pentagon structures and its contractors are developing the direction of unmanned boats. Another program of this kind called PRIME is starting right now. Its goal is to find a new successful boat design and control system for it with a high degree of autonomy and wide possibilities for group use. For now we are only talking about accepting applications, but in the foreseeable future the program should reach practical tests.

Information request

The Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) recently launched the PRIME (Production-Ready, Inexpensive, Maritime Expeditionary) research and development program. Its goal is to create and select a new uncrewed boat for the navy.

DIU plans to accept applications from future program participants and take other appropriate measures in the near future. The deadline has been set as February 12. In the future, technical proposals will reach full-fledged design, as well as construction and testing of full-fledged prototypes. Based on the results of the competition, it is planned to select the best project and the most useful solutions for further development.

When launching the program, DIU published terms of reference. It lists the main functions of the future unmanned boat, defines its operational, technical and performance characteristics, etc. At the same time, the customer strictly determines only part of the boat’s parameters, while the remaining characteristics can be determined by project developers in accordance with their views on the project.

Experienced unmanned vessels of the Ghost Fleet Overlord program. Photo by US Department of Defense

The requirements for the PRIME boat are divided into three main groups, according to the degree of importance for the customer. All competition participants are required to fulfill the requirements of the first group, while the second and third are advisory in nature. At the same time, fulfilling all the requirements will make it possible to create a more efficient BEC and gain an advantage over existing or expected equipment of this class.

Customer wishes

Among the mandatory requirements, the first is the production potential of the project. The future contractor must be able to start production of boats in the spring of 2025 and build at least 10 products per month. Accordingly, annual production should reach or exceed 120 boats. At the competitive stage, the program participant must demonstrate the possibility of such production - demonstrate capacity and cooperation with other enterprises.

DIU does not specify the dimensions and displacement of a promising BEC; they must be determined by the developer taking into account other features of his project. However, the requirements contain other characteristics. Thus, the payload of the boat must exceed 1000 pounds (approx. 450 kg). The boat must use a powerful but economical diesel engine. The maximum speed is set at 35 knots, the cruising range is up to 500-1000 nautical miles. It is necessary to ensure the possibility of a long stay in one area with the solution of all problems.

The BEC must be able to operate completely autonomously. It is required to ensure independent navigation along a given route, incl. with independent avoidance of various obstacles, avoiding collisions, etc. It is necessary to ensure the ability to drive in any conditions, for example, in the absence of satellite navigation signals or in areas of active shipping.

Experienced BEC LRUSV with reconnaissance and strike assets. Photo by US Department of Defense

The hardware and software of the future BEC must be flexible and be able to install additional devices or applications. Due to this modification, the boat must solve problems of a different nature, and also work for different departments.

The second group of requirements, the fulfillment of which is highly desirable but not mandatory, included the possibility of placing an unmanned aerial vehicle / devices on a boat to improve situational awareness and increase reconnaissance capabilities. DIU also wants to implement the latest communication and information transfer standards, including network-centric capabilities. Moreover, in some situations the complex must switch to radio silence mode.

An optional, but desirable function was the automatic recognition of ships and vessels by characteristic features of their appearance, including inscriptions, numbers, etc. It is desirable that the boat can carry a payload of modular architecture to solve a variety of tasks. The boat itself must be compatible with different carriers and various crane equipment, fit into standard containers, etc.

The topic of control systems was also touched upon. The remote BEC control station must have a simple and understandable interface, not impose restrictions on the operator’s work, etc. Both direct remote control and autonomous operation should be considered for different missions.

Goals and objectives

Various Pentagon structures and commercial contractors have been working on BEC for quite some time and are demonstrating noticeable success. The new PRIME program is a direct continuation of previous developments and is created on their basis. At the same time, it is immediately worked out in the context of the future re-equipment of the Navy and takes into account issues of a production and operational nature.

[Center]
Boat MANTAS T-12 and control panel. Photo by MARTAC

The goals and objectives of PRIME are already clear. The Pentagon, represented by the DIU unit, wants to get another surface unmanned platform, and its classification in terms of dimensions and displacement remains unclear. The key requirement is the simplicity of the project, which will allow it to be developed in the shortest possible time and brought to production at a high rate.

PRIME products will have to have all the basic functions typical of modern BECs. They will be able to work under commands or independently - move along a route, conduct patrols, carry out reconnaissance or strikes, etc. At the same time, they want to pay special attention to the group use of such technology. The boats will be able to move together in an organized manner, monitor water areas, find various objects, etc. At the same time, they will exchange data with each other and with the operator to improve the efficiency of collaboration.

Apparently, it is the development of control systems with the necessary functions that is the most difficult component of the new program. However, we can expect that participants will not create them from scratch, but will use existing developments. This will allow us to solve technical problems and meet the given time frame.

DIU has not yet specified exactly what payloads the new type of unmanned boats will have to carry. They will probably be equipped with optical and radar equipment for reconnaissance and target tracking. It is also possible to install remotely controlled modules with barrel or missile weapons.

Joint maneuvering of a patrol boat and a pair of BEC. Photo by MARTAC

A carrying capacity of at least 450 kg will allow the use of a wide range of reconnaissance or weapons equipment. The development of such systems from scratch will also not be necessary - boat developers will be able to take ready-made samples that are available on the market and meet the requirements of the Navy.

The Pentagon allocates a little more than a year to develop new projects and conduct the competition. This means that experienced equipment, of one or more types, may appear over the next few months. Also during this period, the first open information about competitive developments and new information about the program as a whole will appear.

Promising direction

The Pentagon and the US military industry have long been engaged in the topic of unmanned boats with different functions and have now presented a number of similar models of various kinds. Some of these developments are still being tested, while others have already reached trial use by the troops. In the foreseeable future, it is planned to bring them to full use.

The next step in this direction, apparently, should be the new PRIME program. Like a number of previous projects, it provides for the creation of promising boats with extensive capabilities. However, this time the customer is paying increased attention to issues of future production and operation. This circumstance clearly hints at the future of the project and demonstrates the optimism of the Pentagon.

Comments

[antivirus]

Communication and its basis are radio electronics.
Instrumentation and chips.
And the troughs are secondary.

[knn54]

OSTechBuro(1921-1937)
- radio-controlled (from an airplane) torpedo "Shark-2"
-: autonomous underwater special vessel (APSS)
-autonomous submarine 'Pygmy'
Etc
MANY developments were significantly ahead of their time and therefore information about them is still classified.

[kig]

Quote: knn54

information about them is still classified.

so secret that no one even tried to create something like that. Oh yes, right away, at VO it turned out that something like that was being put into trial operation. Well, from trial operation to mass production it’s like walking to the moon, at our pace.

[Ross xnumx]

PRIME program: new unmanned boats for the Pentagon

These immediately sensed what could be used to combat surface targets.
I wonder if several dozen of these naval surface drones fired at an aircraft carrier will justify the costs? What if during the attack they are in a semi-submerged state? What can 600 kg of TNT do when it hits the side of this ship?

[Mister22408]

If it hits, definitely. But this is unlikely - the aircraft carrier is moving at a decent speed, guarding ships (warrant), which are on watch using RR, GA and other control ranges. They have, as is customary with the big white gentleman, gyro-stabilized platforms with thermal and optical channels with multiple magnification (this is not customary among the Indians - they are already sharp-sighted) and connected to the BIUS, synchronized with all sorts of “phalanxes” and other “melars”. When half-submerged, they won’t catch up. 600 kg of soap - there will be a hole, if the fight for survivability is correct, the planes will fly. But cowboys don’t clean their guns with bricks - they have something ten times more powerful genes (and this is not nuke), what kind of soap... But these boats in a threatened period ("H" minus "N"), equipped with tactical charges (form factor and weight allow) Nuclear weapons can cause a rustle in enemy bases. For sabotage before the war it’s perfect...

[Dutchman Michel]

Quote: Mister22408

But this is unlikely - the aircraft carrier is moving at a decent speed

This is all in theory. What will real combat operations show?

[fif21]

Quote: ROSS 42

What can 600 kg of TNT do when it hits the side of this ship?

You wrote it correctly - on board the ship. And turning the ship into a trimaran turns their plans into another wunderwaffle. The same can be said about unmanned fireships that launch a torpedo attack. By the way, anti-torpedo metal nets were used on ships of the First World War.

[rotmistr60]

demonstrates Pentagon optimism

The Pentagon has plenty of optimism, as well as money allocated to the military budget, which “for some reason” is always missing. There is no doubt that the direction is promising, that’s why they are trying. The British are making excellent use of the Ukrainian conflict for their own purposes by “testing” their naval kamikaze drones in real combat conditions, which allows them to make certain adjustments both in the design (control) and in the tactics of their use.

[agond]

The prospects for such boats are very promising (especially since the USA and Great Britain themselves set an example), there are many in the world who want to thank the West for their deeds, and then the construction of such a boat is orders of magnitude simpler than a ship with a crew, plus complete anonymity of the owner

[fif21]

Quote: rotmistr60

The British are making excellent use of the Ukrainian conflict for their own purposes by “testing” their naval kamikaze drones in real combat conditions, which allows them to make certain adjustments, both in the design

Well, where are our "Kulibins"? How to protect a ship from naval drones - kamikazes? This is, in principle, a torpedo (fire ship).

[fif21]

Quote: rotmistr60

The British are making excellent use of the Ukrainian conflict for their own purposes by “testing” their naval kamikaze drones in real combat conditions, which allows them to make certain adjustments, both in the design

Where are our "Kulibins"? Let them improve the experience of protecting warships of World War I from torpedoes and fire ships.

[Yuras_Belarus]

I think that there is no need to try to make your own sword yet. It's better to take care of the shield for now. It is necessary to intensively improve hydroacoustics - no matter how small these boats are, they have engines and they are noisy. We must learn to identify these noises as quickly and accurately as possible. In addition, new rocket launchers are needed to quickly cover the target area and its promising route. Large calibers are not needed here, the main thing is the speed of response, the density of bombs per unit area and detonation upon impact on the surface or at a depth of up to half a meter. Perhaps 20-mm rapid-fire automatic artillery systems will also help. We also need to review the equipment and weapons of deck helicopters: now they can track and attack submarines, but in principle they can also work on high-speed boats. You should not use torpedoes in this case; the boats have a very high speed and shallow draft. I’m not sure about electronic warfare - lest these weapons “blind” the ship itself. And we will still have time to make our own boats. Now we don’t really need them, but for now it’s better to see what the enemy can rivet.

[Simple]

A swarm of kamikaze drones fired from a package of guides into the desired sector when a threat is detected. Automatic target selection at sea is much simpler.

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

Only cluster munitions can provide the density of bombs per unit area, and this is where the caliber is important. Naval artillery should make wider use of ground and air developments. The times when naval artillery was a trendsetter are, alas, gone.

[Simple]

Better then a drone (not a copter, due to the winds) - a kamikaze with cluster munitions.
The BEC attack can be simultaneous and from different angles. Standard (today) means of defense, even if cluster munitions or shrapnel are used, may not be able to fight back.

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

A drone doesn't have to be a kamikaze. You can launch a missile or drop a cluster bomb from a reconnaissance-strike aircraft. But the direction itself is correct. Nothing prevents us from equipping ships with small and medium-sized drones now.

[Simple]

The scout (by the way, to ensure all-round awareness you will need at least four times the rotation) must reconnaissance and conduct objective control. And my comment was about the near zone - something like a mini-air defense system, only not a missile one but an aircraft one, like a switch blade, only in a cassette version and against surface targets.
An aerial reconnaissance aircraft being returned to a ship is expensive equipment.

[Yury Dolgoruky]

If Russia had normal security, organized using modern means of reconnaissance and strikes, they would be practically useless. UAVs in free hunting mode in patrol areas would have been found and destroyed, and the few that broke through would have been stopped by booms and anti-mine caliber ships. The situation with unmanned boats now is actually very similar to that of torpedo boats in the early 1950s - the USSR produced them en masse, hoping for massive unexpected use against enemy ships in the coastal zone, while the radars of enemy cruisers of the late 1940s had the ability to detect and aim guns at them from a distance of 10 km, when they respond by launching torpedoes from 1,5 km. Something, something, is easily stopped by a systematic approach to carrying out measures to protect bases and large ships at sea, and therefore can only operate effectively if anti-submarine defense is disorganized, or in the absence of one due to the weakness of the country’s material and technical base.

[karabas-barabas]

Only aviation is capable of effectively monitoring large areas of both water and land relative to kamikaze drones on water and on land, missile defense and anti-ship missiles. For example, in NATO aviation, the same F-16s with AFAR radar do what they do. Everything else is half measures, defense is at the last line. The best protection of military facilities on the territory of Crimea from any missiles such as Scalp and other drones at the moment is the small number of them in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The NATO countries will get off on the wrong foot tomorrow and will install many of these missiles at once. What to do then? For many years, the too slow development in Russian military aviation has been criticized, but in the outskirts of the Internet, in the state media they threw hats, there are no analogues. Today, the lack of modern components in the Russian Aerospace Forces does not allow aircraft to be used as in the 21st century.

[alexoff]

Rather, the chaos at the top of the Defense Ministry is hindered by the fact that everyone is fighting as best they can, and the staff officers are apparently blaming each other’s problems. The Marines don't have the artillery they need, so they weld bomb launchers onto motorcycle boots. Gunmen are shooting down our planes. Drone pilots with Zala UAVs cannot aim Krasnopolis, and those with eagles cannot aim lancets

[Pavel57]

It's a stupid idea, but it works.

[Dutchman Michel]

Quote: Pavel57

Stupid idea, but it works

If something works, then the idea is not stupid at all

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

Now I attack enemy unmanned boats mainly at night. Their effectiveness should decrease noticeably when sufficiently powerful thermal imagers become available in service, and powerful searchlights return to ports.
And the ships themselves will become much more secure when they finally decide to install helicopter machine-gun mounts capable of firing downwards underneath them, made on the basis of the YAKB-12,7 and GShG-7,62 machine guns

[Simple]

In conditions of excitement, only automation of these machine gun installations will help. Otherwise, you can miss a hit, as happened last time.

A comprehensive solution is needed both in the matter of timely detection (here again the decision depends on where the defended ship is located) by acoustic, electronic or optical means. So it is with the question, in fact, of repelling the BEC attacks that have reached the line.

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

Indeed, there is probably no stabilization on helicopter installations. But their design has been proven and they can be installed quickly.

[Simple]

If opponents on the Black Sea use this configuration: kamikaze drones are fired before they immediately reach the attack line, and the drones will point-by-point the ship’s on-board defense system until the attack by BECs.

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

The advanced air defense system on ships should be able to cope with kamikaze drones. Although in some places you will have to install additional guns and grenade launchers with shrapnel and grapeshot ammunition. Buckshot, for example 57-mm cannons, retains its lethality at ranges of up to 200 meters, which should be enough for small drones.
And the fired trapping nets can be used as additional ammunition to destroy drones. It is easier to equip ships with such means than motorized rifles.

[fif21]

Quote: Simple

A comprehensive solution is needed both in the matter of timely detection (here again the decision depends on where the defended ship is located) by acoustic, electronic or optical means. So it is with the question, in fact, of repelling the BEC attacks that have reached the line.

Have you forgotten about passive protection?