Quote:
Originally Posted by kato
Self-deployable... depends. Doubt it, if we're talking something LCS-sized and above. Something along the lines of a 500-ton vehicle would definitely be doable i'd guess.
Of course, once you bring in armament and such, the control section vastly increases in complexity.
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I wouldn't expect LCS-sized. The point of Streetfighter was to present the opponent with numerous, low-value targets. LCS, to me, is not a low-value target. It's a 3000-tonne corvette/frigate with a real crew onboard.
Even a 500 ton or smaller craft could be self-deployable, if it had the range. Perhaps certain seakeeping requirements could be relaxed because there's no crew to worry about.
How about deploying and recovering towed arrays or variable depth sonars? Is that something that requires human interaction? I know there's a USV towed array in the works in the US, so i imagine it's be doable.
I wonder how much volume and tonnage of a ship of this sized is taken up by crew spaces?
How hard would it be to develop an autonomous refueling capability?