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ARLINGTON, VA — The director of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) said he divides his $2 billion science and technology budget into quick-reaction programs that can bring new capabilities to the fleet quickly, in efforts to mature technology that will produce better systems in three to four years, in “leap-ahead innovation” that could become operational within eight years, and into discovery and invention that can uncover new concepts to yield breakthrough capabilities for the warfighters a decade from now.
ONR’s consortium of government laboratories and warfighting centers, industry and academic institutions — domestic and international — are making new discoveries every year that can produce breakthrough technologies, Rear Adm. Mathias Winter told a Surface Navy Association National Symposium audience Jan. 13.
Winter mentioned a maturation project aimed at giving torpedoes greater range by increasing propulsion power within the body of existing weapons, and long-range scientific research into substances that can consume minerals in ocean water and produce “an endless supply of energy underwater.”
He said his investment priorities are directed energy, cyber, “electromagnetic maneuver warfare,” unmanned systems and synthetic biology.
Electromagnetic “is a key program for fleet commanders,” Winter said, and ONR is working on technologies to give the commander “the ability, in real time, to measure, assess and respond to the electronic footprint they are generating.”
Managing a ship’s electromagnetic signature is part of the effort to help warships avoid detection in an era of long-range anti-ship weapons.
Directed-energy weapons present great potential as a part of the new focus on distributed lethality for the surface fleet. Winter noted the 30-kilowatt solid-state laser that has been deployed in the Persian Gulf aboard USS Ponce, a former amphib converted into an afloat forward staging base. He said “the fleet commander uses it every day,” as a sensor.
ONR is helping to develop more powerful lasers and the equally important technologies for energy storage and generation that are essential to powering directed energy weapons.
Although future ships, including the DDG 1000s, will have the energy production capability needed for lasers or the electromagnetic railgun, Winter acknowledged that affordable ways must be found to give additional energy capability to current ships, which will constitute the vast majority of the future fleet.
The goal, he said, is “not necessarily a laser in every pot, but how can we reduce the cost of every kill.”
Cyber warfare is rapidly developing into a crucial issue, and Winter conceded that often “we really don’t know what’s going on.” Cyber also is unusual in that when you identify something new, “it accelerates from technology level one to nine almost overnight.”
ONR’s efforts on cyber are tightly tied in with Navy Cyber Command and industry, Winter said, and told the industry representatives in the audience, “if you have ideas, reach out to me.”
The admiral cited several focus areas for unmanned systems, including the large-diameter unmanned underwater vehicle, for which a prototype has been produced, and a medium-displacement unmanned surface vehicle, which is a joint project of ONR and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
For those programs, the key focus in on better batteries, or fuel cells to give the systems more endurance.
Winter also mentioned ONR’s recent demonstration of a swarm of very small unmanned aerial systems, called Coyote, which can coordinate among themselves, and its cooperation with DARPA on the Tern, an unmanned vertical-takeoff-and-landing flying wing that could give surface combatants with small flight decks a long range system for reconnaissance and possibly strike.
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
ONR’s consortium of government laboratories and warfighting centers, industry and academic institutions — domestic and international — are making new discoveries every year that can produce breakthrough technologies, Rear Adm. Mathias Winter told a Surface Navy Association National Symposium audience Jan. 13.
Winter mentioned a maturation project aimed at giving torpedoes greater range by increasing propulsion power within the body of existing weapons, and long-range scientific research into substances that can consume minerals in ocean water and produce “an endless supply of energy underwater.”
He said his investment priorities are directed energy, cyber, “electromagnetic maneuver warfare,” unmanned systems and synthetic biology.
Electromagnetic “is a key program for fleet commanders,” Winter said, and ONR is working on technologies to give the commander “the ability, in real time, to measure, assess and respond to the electronic footprint they are generating.”
Managing a ship’s electromagnetic signature is part of the effort to help warships avoid detection in an era of long-range anti-ship weapons.
Directed-energy weapons present great potential as a part of the new focus on distributed lethality for the surface fleet. Winter noted the 30-kilowatt solid-state laser that has been deployed in the Persian Gulf aboard USS Ponce, a former amphib converted into an afloat forward staging base. He said “the fleet commander uses it every day,” as a sensor.
ONR is helping to develop more powerful lasers and the equally important technologies for energy storage and generation that are essential to powering directed energy weapons.
Although future ships, including the DDG 1000s, will have the energy production capability needed for lasers or the electromagnetic railgun, Winter acknowledged that affordable ways must be found to give additional energy capability to current ships, which will constitute the vast majority of the future fleet.
The goal, he said, is “not necessarily a laser in every pot, but how can we reduce the cost of every kill.”
Cyber warfare is rapidly developing into a crucial issue, and Winter conceded that often “we really don’t know what’s going on.” Cyber also is unusual in that when you identify something new, “it accelerates from technology level one to nine almost overnight.”
ONR’s efforts on cyber are tightly tied in with Navy Cyber Command and industry, Winter said, and told the industry representatives in the audience, “if you have ideas, reach out to me.”
The admiral cited several focus areas for unmanned systems, including the large-diameter unmanned underwater vehicle, for which a prototype has been produced, and a medium-displacement unmanned surface vehicle, which is a joint project of ONR and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
For those programs, the key focus in on better batteries, or fuel cells to give the systems more endurance.
Winter also mentioned ONR’s recent demonstration of a swarm of very small unmanned aerial systems, called Coyote, which can coordinate among themselves, and its cooperation with DARPA on the Tern, an unmanned vertical-takeoff-and-landing flying wing that could give surface combatants with small flight decks a long range system for reconnaissance and possibly strike.
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
