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Tango Bravo R&D Project to Drive Down Sub Size
30-Jul-2007 15:46 |
No, not Tango Uniform – Tango Bravo, as in "technology barriers." The Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plan to pour $97 million between 2004-2009 into a new joint project known as Tango Bravo, asks what technologies would be required for a new attack submarine that could have all the capabilities of the current Virginia Class boats, but at half the size and half the build cost. As a comparison, SSN-774 Virginia Class attack submarines are 377 feet in length, and have a 34-foot beam. They cost approximately $2.0-2.5 billion each.
Tango Bravo grew out of a joint Navy-DARPA study that ended in May 2004. It looked at a number of factors that affect the size and cost of hull, mechanical and electrical systems on a submarine. Led by Naval Sea Systems Command's Program Executive Officer for Submarines, Tango Bravo is a demonstration project aimed at bringing fundamental change to future U.S. submarines, while maintaining or improving their current capabilities. This updated DID Focus Article offers a snapshot of DARPA's program, and looks at the contracts and winners that are beginning to shake out…
Tango Bravo: The Program
"Tango Bravo," or "TB," stands for "Technology Barriers." Whether DARPA can ultimately create the building blocks for a sub that meets its ambitious goal is questionable, but the research could still pay large dividends even if only a few aspects turn out to be successful.
The BAA solicitation stated that "Total program funding for this BAA is currently estimated at the following amounts: $19.0M for FY05, $28.0M for FY06, $30.0M for FY07 and $20.0M for FY08." Overall, 5 key technology domains will subjected to intensive scrutiny during the Tango Bravo project:
Propulsion concepts not constrained by a centerline shaft;
Externally stowed and launched weapons (especially torpedoes);
Conformal alternatives to the existing spherical sonar array in submarines' bows, such as hull-adaptable sonar arrays;
Technologies that eliminate or substantially simplify existing submarine hull, mechanical and electrical systems – for instance, fitting future subs with a retraction system for the bow planes with no associated hydraulics, a major change from current submarine designs; and
Automation to reduce crew workload for standard tasks – for instance, an automated attack center.
The two agencies planned to fund a variety of technology demonstration projects, but reserved the right to choose not to fund some of the above requests in light of the submissions received. When the program started in May/June 2005, DARPA chose to fund development efforts in only 3 areas.
One was shaftless propulsion. In a February 2005 Seapower article, former submarine commanding officer Nicholas Nicholas L. Flacco of Arete Associates in Sherman Oaks, CA explained the importance of the shaftless propulsion initiative:
"Submarines have always been sized around the propulsion plant, and if you get rid of the reduction gears and the shaft, you're talking about many tons of weight and cubic yards of space, which drive down the size that you need."
The second initiative was external weapons stowage and launch, which would free up a lot of space currently occupied by large torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. As a bonus, stowing weapons outside the hull could make them far easier to reload since one does not have to finesse the torpedo into its proper place inside from a position outside the ship's hull.
The third initiative was "radical ship infrastructure reduction," which is likely to joint the "all-electric ship" trend of replacing many of the sub's hydraulics and pneumatics with smaller, quieter electric actuators.
DARPA's Strategic Technology Office hopes to be able to decide by late 2006 on what concepts to move into prototype production, and has begun doing so. They hope to follow up with full-scale demonstrations in early 2008, and at-sea demonstrations in 2009. Concepts that are deemed sufficiently promising "may be incorporated into a future submarine design," according to DARPA.
30-Jul-2007 15:46 |
No, not Tango Uniform – Tango Bravo, as in "technology barriers." The Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plan to pour $97 million between 2004-2009 into a new joint project known as Tango Bravo, asks what technologies would be required for a new attack submarine that could have all the capabilities of the current Virginia Class boats, but at half the size and half the build cost. As a comparison, SSN-774 Virginia Class attack submarines are 377 feet in length, and have a 34-foot beam. They cost approximately $2.0-2.5 billion each.
Tango Bravo grew out of a joint Navy-DARPA study that ended in May 2004. It looked at a number of factors that affect the size and cost of hull, mechanical and electrical systems on a submarine. Led by Naval Sea Systems Command's Program Executive Officer for Submarines, Tango Bravo is a demonstration project aimed at bringing fundamental change to future U.S. submarines, while maintaining or improving their current capabilities. This updated DID Focus Article offers a snapshot of DARPA's program, and looks at the contracts and winners that are beginning to shake out…
Tango Bravo: The Program
"Tango Bravo," or "TB," stands for "Technology Barriers." Whether DARPA can ultimately create the building blocks for a sub that meets its ambitious goal is questionable, but the research could still pay large dividends even if only a few aspects turn out to be successful.
The BAA solicitation stated that "Total program funding for this BAA is currently estimated at the following amounts: $19.0M for FY05, $28.0M for FY06, $30.0M for FY07 and $20.0M for FY08." Overall, 5 key technology domains will subjected to intensive scrutiny during the Tango Bravo project:
Propulsion concepts not constrained by a centerline shaft;
Externally stowed and launched weapons (especially torpedoes);
Conformal alternatives to the existing spherical sonar array in submarines' bows, such as hull-adaptable sonar arrays;
Technologies that eliminate or substantially simplify existing submarine hull, mechanical and electrical systems – for instance, fitting future subs with a retraction system for the bow planes with no associated hydraulics, a major change from current submarine designs; and
Automation to reduce crew workload for standard tasks – for instance, an automated attack center.
The two agencies planned to fund a variety of technology demonstration projects, but reserved the right to choose not to fund some of the above requests in light of the submissions received. When the program started in May/June 2005, DARPA chose to fund development efforts in only 3 areas.
One was shaftless propulsion. In a February 2005 Seapower article, former submarine commanding officer Nicholas Nicholas L. Flacco of Arete Associates in Sherman Oaks, CA explained the importance of the shaftless propulsion initiative:
"Submarines have always been sized around the propulsion plant, and if you get rid of the reduction gears and the shaft, you're talking about many tons of weight and cubic yards of space, which drive down the size that you need."
The second initiative was external weapons stowage and launch, which would free up a lot of space currently occupied by large torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. As a bonus, stowing weapons outside the hull could make them far easier to reload since one does not have to finesse the torpedo into its proper place inside from a position outside the ship's hull.
The third initiative was "radical ship infrastructure reduction," which is likely to joint the "all-electric ship" trend of replacing many of the sub's hydraulics and pneumatics with smaller, quieter electric actuators.
DARPA's Strategic Technology Office hopes to be able to decide by late 2006 on what concepts to move into prototype production, and has begun doing so. They hope to follow up with full-scale demonstrations in early 2008, and at-sea demonstrations in 2009. Concepts that are deemed sufficiently promising "may be incorporated into a future submarine design," according to DARPA.