MICHAEL SIRAK JDW Staff Reporter
Washington, DC
Lockheed Martin's new stealthy, fast attack craft concept for the US Navy will carry a powerful array of weapons and perform missions ranging from countering small, swarming boats to shallow-water anti-submarine warfare, mineclearing and inserting special operation forces into hot spots, say company officials.
JDW was the first publication to report on the Covert High-speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft (CHARC - pronounced 'shark'), which the company unveiled last year (JDW 25 June 2003). In February, company officials discussed the concept in more detail.
CHARC features a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) design. It carries a crew of two in a forward cockpit that borrows much from the layout and technologies used in modern attack helicopters, said company spokesman Tom Greer. Later configurations could be unmanned.
At the nose of the fuselage is a slewable 20mm rapid-fire gun. On each side of the forward fuselage are four internal weapons bays, each of which could hold one canisterised AGM-114 Hellfire missile or Joint Common Missile for line-of-sight engagements. The company says its nascent NetFires system could be incorporated for a beyond-line-of-sight attack capability. It could also mount 40mm grenade launchers.
The company is marketing an 11m-long variant and a 12m-long version of the CHARC to the navy and US Special Operations Command, said George Root, director of advanced programmes at the company's Maritime Systems & Sensors division. Although the craft could operate from a number of larger surface vessels, the company says its design is geared with the nascent Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in mind. Several CHARCs could fit on the latter, according to the company.
The navy declined to address the CHARC specifically. However, navy spokeswoman Lt Amy Gilliland said the service is "very interested in exploring any new technologies and concepts that will enhance our force-protection capabilities". Focal areas include countering small boats and aircraft and swimmers as well as improving situational awareness and command and control, she noted.
Lockheed Martin would like to build, with funding support, a 1/4-scale model to validate the CHARC's stability in water. To date the company says it has invested about $2 million of its own funds. Root said the company believes that a prototype unit could be available in 2008 for experiments with LCS.
The SWATH configuration gives the craft extreme stability even in high sea states, said Root. The diesel-powered vessel is fast and agile, even in unfavourable conditions, and has a top speed approaching 60kt. Its directional waterjets make it "extremely manoeuvrable", he noted.
The vessel's design gives off only low infra-red, radar and visual signatures, said Greer. It can operate at varying heights above the water line, and has a retractable sensor mast. In addition to internal weapons carriage, its engine exhaust empties below the water line. The craft has a minimum draft of 1.5m to allow for operations in shallow water.
The mast will provide a "great field of view" to locate, identify and track targets, says the company. The vessel's sensor suite, located both in the mast and its nose, is to be determined, but will probably include a targeting forward-looking infra-red system, said the officials.
Both variants of the CHARC incorporate a folding SWATH design, for which a patent is pending. This allows the vessels to collapse into a box 3.6m wide by 3.6m high for storage - a footprint only slightly larger than that of the existing 11m rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) used by Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) commando teams, said the officials. The craft has steerable wheels to manoeuvre when in compressed mode on the host ship.
The fuselage's modular midsection and aft can be configured for various missions. There are modules that house additional crew to monitor anti-submarine sensors or control unmanned air, surface or underwater vehicles. Other modules hold auxiliary crew-served guns or carry additional missiles.
They could also accommodate a SEAL team. The 11m variant could carry six SEALS, while the 12m model could accommodate eight - half a SEAL platoon - with an access door at the rear of the craft. The vessel could also carry a RHIB underneath the fuselage for the team, said Greer.
There are also two modules in the forward section of each hull, each of which could carry one Mk 50 or Mk 54 torpedo. They could also house sonobuoys or hold equipment for the SEALs, said Root.
The CHARC's maintainers could install and exchange the modules in a matter of hours while the vessel is aboard its host platform, he noted.
[images of CHARC posted in image forum]
Washington, DC
Lockheed Martin's new stealthy, fast attack craft concept for the US Navy will carry a powerful array of weapons and perform missions ranging from countering small, swarming boats to shallow-water anti-submarine warfare, mineclearing and inserting special operation forces into hot spots, say company officials.
JDW was the first publication to report on the Covert High-speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft (CHARC - pronounced 'shark'), which the company unveiled last year (JDW 25 June 2003). In February, company officials discussed the concept in more detail.
CHARC features a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) design. It carries a crew of two in a forward cockpit that borrows much from the layout and technologies used in modern attack helicopters, said company spokesman Tom Greer. Later configurations could be unmanned.
At the nose of the fuselage is a slewable 20mm rapid-fire gun. On each side of the forward fuselage are four internal weapons bays, each of which could hold one canisterised AGM-114 Hellfire missile or Joint Common Missile for line-of-sight engagements. The company says its nascent NetFires system could be incorporated for a beyond-line-of-sight attack capability. It could also mount 40mm grenade launchers.
The company is marketing an 11m-long variant and a 12m-long version of the CHARC to the navy and US Special Operations Command, said George Root, director of advanced programmes at the company's Maritime Systems & Sensors division. Although the craft could operate from a number of larger surface vessels, the company says its design is geared with the nascent Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in mind. Several CHARCs could fit on the latter, according to the company.
The navy declined to address the CHARC specifically. However, navy spokeswoman Lt Amy Gilliland said the service is "very interested in exploring any new technologies and concepts that will enhance our force-protection capabilities". Focal areas include countering small boats and aircraft and swimmers as well as improving situational awareness and command and control, she noted.
Lockheed Martin would like to build, with funding support, a 1/4-scale model to validate the CHARC's stability in water. To date the company says it has invested about $2 million of its own funds. Root said the company believes that a prototype unit could be available in 2008 for experiments with LCS.
The SWATH configuration gives the craft extreme stability even in high sea states, said Root. The diesel-powered vessel is fast and agile, even in unfavourable conditions, and has a top speed approaching 60kt. Its directional waterjets make it "extremely manoeuvrable", he noted.
The vessel's design gives off only low infra-red, radar and visual signatures, said Greer. It can operate at varying heights above the water line, and has a retractable sensor mast. In addition to internal weapons carriage, its engine exhaust empties below the water line. The craft has a minimum draft of 1.5m to allow for operations in shallow water.
The mast will provide a "great field of view" to locate, identify and track targets, says the company. The vessel's sensor suite, located both in the mast and its nose, is to be determined, but will probably include a targeting forward-looking infra-red system, said the officials.
Both variants of the CHARC incorporate a folding SWATH design, for which a patent is pending. This allows the vessels to collapse into a box 3.6m wide by 3.6m high for storage - a footprint only slightly larger than that of the existing 11m rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) used by Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) commando teams, said the officials. The craft has steerable wheels to manoeuvre when in compressed mode on the host ship.
The fuselage's modular midsection and aft can be configured for various missions. There are modules that house additional crew to monitor anti-submarine sensors or control unmanned air, surface or underwater vehicles. Other modules hold auxiliary crew-served guns or carry additional missiles.
They could also accommodate a SEAL team. The 11m variant could carry six SEALS, while the 12m model could accommodate eight - half a SEAL platoon - with an access door at the rear of the craft. The vessel could also carry a RHIB underneath the fuselage for the team, said Greer.
There are also two modules in the forward section of each hull, each of which could carry one Mk 50 or Mk 54 torpedo. They could also house sonobuoys or hold equipment for the SEALs, said Root.
The CHARC's maintainers could install and exchange the modules in a matter of hours while the vessel is aboard its host platform, he noted.
[images of CHARC posted in image forum]
