The U.S. Navy last month announced the procurement of 120 Blackwing 10C drones for submarine forces for operational use to enhance cross-domain command and control capabilities. The U.S. Navy announced last month the procurement of 120 Blackwing 10C drones for operational use by the submarine force to improve cross-field command and control capabilities.
The “Blackwing” 10C UAV is 49.5 cm long, with two sets of pop-up wings, a 68.6 cm front wingspan and a slightly smaller rear wingspan, weighing about 1.8 kg, and propelled by a tail electric motor. The lower part of the nose is equipped with photoelectric / infrared sensors, real-time video image transmission, equipped with data chain, GPS and inertial navigation equipment, may have a range of 10 km and 15 minutes of endurance.
Public information shows that the “Blackwing” 10C UAV has cross-domain command and control relay capabilities, can be connected to underwater submarines, surface ships and unmanned aerial vehicles and other equipment platforms, with interoperability with the same series of UAVs in the same area. Onboard sensor system can carry out intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance. The modular load bay in the fuselage can be retrofitted with different mission modules to perform a range of tasks. In addition to submersible lift-off, the aircraft can be launched from a common launch tube or even a jammer launcher. Because of its small size and low noise, the aircraft is not easily detected and identified, even if it performs close-range reconnaissance. The first aircraft of this type will be delivered in August this year, and all deliveries will be completed in May 2023.
U.S. Army nuclear submarine
The Blackwing 10C UAV, so to speak, brings a new mode of operation to submarines. Although countries have been improving and developing submarines since they were put into combat in World War I, modern submarines still have a fairly single mode of operation, mainly firing torpedoes after spotting the enemy, or surfacing to fire missiles at land targets. With the advent of the U.S. Blackwing 10C UAV, submarines have a new mode of operation. First, the UAV can be launched in a variety of ways, either with a torpedo tube, or wrapped in a sealed device and launched using a vertical launch system, with the sealed device floating to the surface and then launching the UAV into the air. Thanks to its small size, a submarine can carry a large number of drones.
Photo: A Naval Sea Systems Command briefing slide describing the use of submarine-launched Blackwing drones for testing, including potential attack missions, in 2013.
And after the drones are shot out of the water, the submarine’s situational awareness will be significantly enhanced. On the one hand, modern drones all have the ability to transmit clear images in real time, and are able to scout the enemy fleet on the surface and transmit the images back to the submarine, and the submarine will no longer need to rely on traditional periscopes, as well as sonar, to spot surface ships, and the submarine’s shortcomings of poor perception will be perfectly solved, while on the other hand The submarine’s strike capability will no longer be limited to using torpedoes and missiles that could expose their position, the addition of drones will allow submarines to remotely control drones to attack enemy warships, submarines and other targets without exposing themselves.
U.S. submarine-launched drones
In addition to providing a communications relay platform for submarines and surface ships, the Blackwing 10C also has the potential to be converted into a suicide drone as well as an electronic warfare drone, which can be transformed into a suicide drone by removing the aircraft’s reconnaissance equipment and loading it with a more powerful combatant, which can be transformed into an anti-ship cruise missile to strike surface ships, and an electronic warfare drone after the addition of With the addition of electronic warfare equipment, the Blackwing 10C is capable of electronically suppressing surface ships as well as submarines, providing a window for submarines to strike.
U.S. submarine-launched UAV
Overall, the Blackwing 10C drone has considerable tactical utility in the future.
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