Designers from the UK presented the concept of a warship of the future
This draft project was created as part of the program to develop the innovative potential of the Royal Navy. The concept of the Dreadnought ship 2050 was presented by Startpoint, which was recently created by the UK Department of Defense. Startpoint is set to debut in September 2015 in London at Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI), which will be held in the English capital from 15 to 18 in September.
The Startpoint agency’s tasks include promoting British maritime support systems (we are talking about modern e-stuffing, “brains” of warships - navigation systems, ship armament control systems, information systems, integrated control systems, sensors, etc.) in the international market . In fact, we are talking about the promotion of products of private companies in the UK under the patronage of the state (almost a private-public enterprise). On the other hand, Startpoint is going to attract developers of modern marine systems to cooperate with the Royal Navy and assist companies in the implementation of their ideas and products to the fleet. Representatives of the agency are going to pay special attention to the creation of marine unmanned and robotic systems.
Named in honor of the British warship, presented to the public in 1906, the Dreadnought 2050 has all the futuristic attributes that must be inherent in promising warships of the 21st century. At one time, Dreadnought (English intrepid) - the British battleship with a displacement of about 20 thousand tons and weapons from 10 guns caliber 305 mm - with its appearance made a real revolution in the naval business, becoming the founder of a whole subclass of ships of the line. The ship was so superior to all previous models that it divided all warships into those created before and after the appearance of the Dreadnought.
In this regard, the creators of Dreadnought 2050 decided to keep up with their illustrious predecessor. What is worth only the idea of using the power plant, working on products of hydrogen synthesis! If this technology remains unattainable, the developers of the concept are considering the option of using highly efficient and quiet turbines that will power the electric motors and other systems of the ship. The declared speed of the future battleship will be at least 50 nodes.
For the hull of the Dreadnought 2050, the drafters of the concept chose a trimaran scheme that will allow the ship to maintain stability even at maximum speed during heavy seas. At the same time, all three hulls of the vessel are provided with ballast tanks, which will ensure the partial immersion of the ship for better camouflage. New lightweight, heavy-duty alloys and composite materials were chosen as the material for the hull, and it is planned to cover the underwater part with a layer of graphene (a special form of carbon), which will significantly reduce the friction of the ship's hull on the water. In the rear of the ship's hull, it is planned to install a retractable ramp, along which the marines will leave the ship, as well as launch flying, floating and underwater Drones - carriers of various weapons. To replenish the “stocks” of these unmanned aerial vehicles, it is planned to place a special workshop on the ship, which will receive 3D printers and stocks of the necessary materials and ready-made components, including electronics, for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles directly on board.
Concept developers do not specify the exact size of their futuristic warship, but said that their project with a crew of 50-55 people can replace a modern warship with a team of 200 people. Based on this information, it can be assumed that Dreadnought 2050 will be comparable in size with US Zumwalt-class destroyer squadrons that have a displacement of 15.000 tons.
One of the main attractions of the ship Dreadnought 2050 was its control room, which looks more like a control room of the spacecraft from numerous science fiction films. A large holographic display will be installed in the wheelhouse. On this display, all current tactical and operational information received from the sea surface, from the depths of the sea and from space will be displayed in a clear and convenient way. Automation and a carefully thought-out interface will allow the captain and also 5 officers of the warship to fully control the situation on board.
Surprisingly, the presented concept of a warship of the future has only one weapon - an electromagnetic rail gun. The parameters of this gun are not very different from those of the railguns that are currently being tested by the US Naval Research and Development Administration (Office of Naval Research), and which are able to produce specialized projectiles at a distance of 200 km. To protect against small vessels of the enemy, the developers plan to use laser and microwave weapon medium power, and for the defeat of large surface ships and submarines on board the Dreadnought 2050 will be torpedoes that can reach speeds of up to 300 nodes by using a special graphene coating and the phenomenon of supercavitation.
In case of such a need, a promising combat ship will be able to launch a probe into the sky, which will be connected to the ship with a special superconducting cable with cryogenic cooling and a cable made of carbon nanotubes. In this case, for the operation of the sensor system for the early detection of a large amount of energy is not needed, but a powerful combat laser with a large radius of action, also installed on this probe, will need energy. This probe “on a leash” is planned to be used for reconnaissance and protection of the ship against enemy missiles.
“A number of futuristic technologies will have to push the existing boundaries of science and technology, and we currently see no reasons or limitations in order not to include these technologies in our draft design,” noted Startpoint agency agency Mure Macdonald. According to him, all the most interesting innovations in naval technologies: rail guns, lasers, drones and sensors will consume a lot of electrical energy. Only large warships can produce this electricity in the required volumes. Generating a large amount of energy will not only increase their weaponry and lethality, but also provide a greater level of viability. Currently, all the state-of-the-art technologies identified in the project seem to us to be something of a fantasy category, but in the future they can become much more accessible, which will solve many problems with less financial and labor costs, said Mur MacDonald.
At the same time, according to Mark Steele, who holds the post of business development director at Startpoint, the concept of the warship of the future presented by the agency pursues educational goals. According to him, they wanted to challenge British graduate engineers to encourage them to start thinking about the capabilities of the naval combat support systems that will be introduced into future offshore platforms of the new type and are likely to differ significantly from existing warships today. It is no coincidence that the draft design of the new ship was shown in the famous QinetiQ technopark near Portsmouth, where the British military research center specializing in the design of unmanned marine systems has been located since 2014.
Information sources:
http://www.arms-expo.ru/news/weapons_in_the_world/drednout_2050_kak_eskizy_korablya_vzorvali_internet
http://technicamolodezhi.ru/news/novosti_nauki_i_tehniki/DREDNOUT_2050
http://nnm.me/blogs/David_Rasche/dreadnought-2050-proekt-futuristicheskogo-voennogo-sudna
http://gearmix.ru/archives/21962
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