Dreadnought 2050

[RetroSicotte]

I don't think I need to tell you folks of all people the usual "prospective invisioning" clauses, but it's a fun thing none-the-less to look at. It gives a hint into the types of future concepts we're looking at for the future, some of which are clearly already underway.

Dreadnought 2050 - The Royal Navy for 2050

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34077719 (Try not to get frustrated at the mis-reporting later in the article)

Futuristic images of what Royal Navy vessels could look like in 2050 have been developed by young British scientists and engineers. They hope it will offer a glimpse of how advanced vessels could be.

A group of British scientists and engineers are working for major players in the industry and the Ministry of Defence on a project called Starpoint.

Its aim is to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of military maritime technology.

Named after the ship HMS Dreadnought, the design includes the following technological concepts:

- Electromagnetic Railgun with the same range as most cruise missiles at Mach 5
- Torpedoes with speeds of over 300 knots using frictionless bubble propulsion
- Defensive Hypersonic Missiles in side mounted silos
- Directed Energy Laser Defences for use on small craft
- Tethered rotary UAV based directed energy CIWS (!)
- Ultra strong acrylic hull coated in graphene for smooth sailing
- Transparent hull to remain invisible to the naked eye when electrical current passed through it
- Large flight deck and Hanger for UAVs and Helicopters
- Large well deck for Royal Marines and UUVs
- On board 3D printed unmanned vehicles
- Holographic Bridge with "see through hull" (Think F-35 helmet seeing through the airframe)
- 50 crew, specialists in computing
- Fusion Nuclear Power Plant powering waterjets
- Drone carried radars for very high over-the-horizon spotting
- Ballast tanks for 'hunkering' in the water to provide a stealthier target
- Command fusion, permitting systems to be operated by other ships thousands of km away










Alternative reporting:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... iling.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... l#comments

[Cooper]

Even if all the listed technology was viable in the given time frame, I really can't see the RN going for such a radical change in hull configuration for the Type 26 replacement (which I guess this would be).

Still, its fun to imagine what the future will be...

[RetroSicotte]

You have to remember, this isn't saying "We will build this ship."

It's a concepting analysis of potential future technology. Some may be applied to future ships, some may be applied to "existing" ships (ie - Type 26, QE Class) and some may be developed for export, even. A whole bunch of it is actually already in existence or is already being researched by someone. Things like the railgun, laser defences, supercavitation torpedoes, holographic bridges, hypersonic missiles, stealthy hulls...these are all things that are extremely likely to become a thing within a given timeframe on whatever platform they aim for.

Better to think ahead than to get to 2030 and start going "Err...". Especially with the lead in time of

[~UNiOnJaCk~]

UXV Combatant Mk.II

RS is right though. These conceptual kit-bashing exercises can be very useful when it comes to deciding what technologies we might both need, and want to develop going in to the future whether they be retrofitted to existing platforms or brought on-board an entirely new design.

[shark bait]

I read this and thought it was such bullshit. I can't believe the BBC would publish such crap...... Must be a quiet day for news.


3D printed drones already fly from royal navy ships, the rest already exisy and holographic display? Come on.....

This isn't foward thinking, its a fancy pants rendering

[arfah]

............

[SKB]

They forgot the teleporter.

Needs a submarine with a rocketplane on its front. Like in 'UFO'

[shark bait]

They forgot the teleporter.

Hahaha

That's pretty much what I was thinking!

[RetroSicotte]

I read this and thought it was such bullshit. I can't believe the BBC would publish such crap...... Must be a quiet day for news.


3D printed drones already fly from royal navy ships, the rest already exisy and holographic display? Come on.....

This isn't foward thinking, its a fancy pants rendering

3D Printed Drones have flown from ships, but they aren't in service or in an operational standard yet.

Not all of the rest exists, the tethered drone is actually a very innovative idea, one that could see genuine thought because of exercises like this.

As for holographic display, China is already far into producing such things.

[Dahedd]

Not as fancy as that tethered drone, but would a high altitude UAV/airship/blimp not be a terrific way of extending the fleets AEW horizon? Imagine a super high altitude Searchwater on 24hrs duty.deployable from all ships types, not just the carriers.

The only downside I gUess would be that if your enemy could see the Blimp they would have a good idea of the fleets location.

[shark bait]

3D Printed Drones have flown from ships, but they aren't in service or in an operational standard yet.

Not all of the rest exists, the tethered drone is actually a very innovative idea, one that could see genuine thought because of exercises like this.

As for holographic display, China is already far into producing such things.

And a fusion reactor as well??? They've just thrown a load a buzz words onto a render in an effort to grab attention.

I fail to see the forward thinking.
I also fail to see the use for a holographic display other than fulfilling SiFi nerdgasms. My crystal ball tell me it will be the next 3D TV fad.

[shark bait]

Not as fancy as that tethered drone, but would a high altitude UAV/airship/blimp not be a terrific way of extending the fleets AEW horizon? Imagine a super high altitude Searchwater on 24hrs duty.deployable from all ships types, not just the carriers.

The only downside I gUess would be that if your enemy could see the Blimp they would have a good idea of the fleets location.

I have had a very similar idea, think I posted it when we where having a discussion about blimp's before.

I quite like it as a concept, all existing equipment, just used differently.

I think it would be good for routine ops but in a time of war I guess it would just be a target as you say. However day to day it would be a lot cheaper than keeping Merlin's in the air 24/7

[RetroSicotte]

And a fusion reactor as well??? They've just thrown a load a buzz words onto a render in an effort to grab attention.

I fail to see the forward thinking.
I also fail to see the use for a holographic display other than fulfilling SiFi nerdgasms. My crystal ball tell me it will be the next 3D TV fad.

You mean the fusion reactors that are already today being considered a development that will begin to see full growth and practical application status long before 2050? It's absolutely within the realms of possibility, which is what the concepting process is about. Looking at all the potential applications that every single bit of technology they can think of could possibly create. That is the purpose of this. To look at what is likely, what is possible, what is dependant on advance and what is idealistic but needs a lot of work to attain.

Apparently if you fail to see holographic display potential, there's a number of countries that already do and are developing them. It's a thing, it's coming. As aforementioned, China is already finding military application for the early forms of them in helping project 3D space to a given location.

[shark bait]

You mean the fusion reactors that are already today being considered a development that will begin to see full growth and practical application status long before 2050? It's absolutely within the realms of possibility, which is what the concepting process is about.

Holographic displays are just my personal opinion, I know they exist, however I fail to find a real useful application of such a thing, besides showing off.

But a real application of fusion before 2050, no way, never mind a portable reactor.

Energy is defiantly my domain, and I as well as many others don't see fusion becoming realistic until the very end of my life. It's a very long way off.
Lockheed martin touted something a while back but its mostly dismissed as a publicity pipe dream.

[Halidon]

The Fusion debate probably belongs in its own thread elsewhere on UKDF, there are certainly those in both the "it's closer than you think" and the "pipedream" camps. Good conversation to have just not in this thread.

[Ron5]

I was most interested in how they would man their ship with just 50 sailors. I wonder if they had any real ideas on how to accomplish that or did they just pull a number out of their backside.

[sea_eagle]

Many of the ideas have potential but some are closer than you think. I know the T23 upgrades included new slippery paint - I believe silicone based which added 1 or 2 knots to ship speed. The T45 & QE class have the same treatment.

In the article:

-Ultra strong acrylic hull coated in graphene for smooth sailing

Well the basis for the idea comes from research completed at Manchester University and published last year.
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/ne ... /?id=12782

Graphene oxide solutions can be used to paint various surfaces ranging from glass to metals to even conventional bricks. After a simple chemical treatment, the resulting coatings behave like graphite in terms of chemical and thermal stability but become mechanically nearly as tough as graphene, the strongest material known to man.

By using graphene paint on a ship's hull, resistance to corrosion would be increased while its lubricating properties would mean barnacles and other sea life could not adhere to the vessel, which in turn would improve fuel efficiency.

Graphene, discovered by two physicists at the University of Manchester who later won the Nobel prize for their work, conducts electricity better than copper. It is also 200 times stronger than steel and six times lighter.

It would have great use as a stealth coating for aircraft as well as ships and boats as it will absorb and not scatter radar.
The main commerical research is being done by a start up company, Applied Graphene Company, spun out of Durham University last November and is based in Cleveland (UK) and founded by Durham Professor Karl Coleman in 2010.

[ArmChairCivvy]

By now we know what the Dreadnought Class will look like (in 2050, and even before)