The UXV Combatant is a concept drone carrier warship designed by BVT Surface Fleet (now

BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships is a wholly owned subsidiary company of BAE Systems, specialising in naval surface shipbuilding and combat systems integration. One of three divisions of BAE Systems Maritime, along with BAE Systems Submari ...

), which was displayed at the Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEI) in 2007. UXV Combatant shares some common design features with the

Type 45 destroyer The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile ...

Design

The design features two flight decks for launching

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...

V/STOL A vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft is an airplane able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft are a subset of V/STOL craft that do not require runways at a ...

aircraft, and helicopters; arrayed in a "V" shape. Note that the article says "high-tech radars" would be used for submarine hunting, but this is a typographical error for "sonars". Each flight deck is approximately in length. To launch aircraft, it could be expected to use the

Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is a type of aircraft launching system developed by General Atomics for the United States Navy. The system launches carrier-based aircraft by means of a catapult employing a linear induction ...

or a ski-jump. It was also reported to be capable of launching

unmanned underwater vehicle Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), sometimes known as underwater drones, are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories: remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROU ...

s via a "moon pool", and in addition, able to embark a large number of troops plus their equipment. For

naval gunfire support Naval gunfire support (NGFS) (also known as shore bombardment) is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support Fire support is defined by the United States Department of Defense as " Fires that directly support land, maritime, amphibiou ...

, the design is equipped with a 155 mm cannon, able to fire bursts of 20 rounds in rapid succession. It also features a

vertical launching system A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of ''cells'', which can hold one or mor ...

Mission

UXV Combatant is designed to better meet the threats of

asymmetric warfare Asymmetric warfare (or asymmetric engagement) is the term given to describe a type of war between belligerents whose relative military power, strategy or tactics differ significantly. This is typically a war between a standing, professional ar ...

. Able to deploy assault troops or special forces ashore with their equipment, it is designed to provide the necessary firepower to support them. Such as; land-attack cruise missile launched via its vertical launching system, its 155 mm gun, and a fleet of

unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...

s. UXV Combatant is also designed to perform reconnaissance missions, with powerful ship-borne sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles. UXV Combatant is designed to act both independently, or as an escort.

Current status

This is a

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...

warship only, and there are currently no plans for this concept to enter design proper.

References

External links

BAE Systems press release: 11 September 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uxv Combatant Proposed aircraft carriers Proposed ships of the Royal Navy