Originally Posted by
tartare
Interesting piece on ABC here last night about retired submariners calling for an interim `son of Collins' class to be built before the nuke boats - to fill the `submarine gap' between now and the nuke boats arriving in the 2040s.
Not a lot of discussion about these or similar as an interim stop gap?
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...inelayer-first
Am assuming large UUVs will develop and evolve enormously over the next 20 years.
Much cheaper than a crewed boat I would have thought?
Oz may even be able to build it's own...
Navy requirements indicate the UUV will also perform underwater surveillance, electronic warfare, and minesweeping missions. Beyond that, it is planned for Orca to be able to do everything from launching cruise missiles and aerial drones to hunting submarines in the future.
I totally agree.
Developing a “Son of Collins” would divert resources and funds from the SSN program so it makes sense to augment the Collins with high capability UUV’s with much lower acquisition and operating costs.
In fact, they’ve already started buying some with 3 ordered from Anduril. It will be interesting to see if they are sized to fit on the aft deck of the Collins or will operate autonomously from their base.
Anduril Autonomous Submarines