The American shipbuilding company General Dynamics NASSCO presented the concept of an expeditionary support ship of the ESB class (Expeditionary Sea Base), designed for the needs of the US Navy. Ships of this type are designed to support combat operations of the US Armed Forces in low-intensity conflicts and represent an actual military base., with all necessary infrastructure. These vessels significantly reduce dependence on foreign ports and provide support in the absence of free harbors on long-range military campaigns..
General Dynamics NASSCO has developed several major modifications to its line of expeditionary naval bases. (ESB), to meet the new requirements of the US Navy and Marine Corps, writes the American online edition of military topics Naval News. The company describes the potential for ship modifications as unlimited.. In the future, floating bases can be used to base and control unmanned aerial and marine military vehicles of the US Navy..
Independent consultant, working with NASSCO on ESB, Jim Strok explained the principles, which the company's developers used to adapt the concepts and capabilities of the new vessel to the future requirements of naval operations:
We reviewed expeditionary operations at forward bases, distributed maritime operations and coastal operations in combat environments. Then we wrote papers about, how ships can carry out missions to solve problems within these concepts. New modifications of the ESB ship include an aft flight deck for unmanned aerial vehicles, additional repair capacity and the ability to resupply at sea with other vessels. Two of the most notable and comprehensive modifications to the ESB are the plans for installing an unmanned underwater vehicle bay. (UUV) and, apparently, the possibility of taking on board marine aircraft, including F-35B.
Strok explained, that thanks to a specially designed launch system, located inside the vessel, ESB can support various UAVs, including extra-large UAV Orca. For this, the company's engineers have developed a rotary launch system., which can be used to launch drones even in storm conditions.
Extensive ESB controls were singled out by Strok as one of the reasons, according to which these ships can be modified into mother ships for various types of drones. So far, the new concept of an expeditionary support ship is not designed to receive and service F-35B fighter-bombers. But the company's engineers are working on a solution to this problem.. According to the presented concept, in the presented modification, the ESB can already receive V-22 Ospreys marines and CH-53K King Stallions helicopters, and has the means to fully support them. Author:Alexander Grigoriev Photos used:General Dynamics NASSCO website
