'Network-centric' submarines expand commander's options.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

The Navy's plan to boost the combat clout of attack submarines in the decades ahead would have these boats launch multiple types of unmanned vehicles and fire tactical ballistic missiles on a moment's notice.

The submarine of 2020, according to the Nay's long-term blueprint for undersea warfare, will interact with unmanned underwater, surface and air vehicles. Further, it will be equipped to launch non-Navy weapons, such as Army tactical missiles.

One scenario, for example, would have the submarine lay sensors on the ocean floor, creating an "information grid" that would feed the naval battle group commander valuable intelligence. The sensors would be linked to unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) and pilot-less drones (UAVs) that would fly over the battle zone. The information grid would help the commander, who may not even be anywhere near the submarine, gain control of the situation.

Making the submarine a centerpiece of the "network-centric" approach to fighting wars and elevating its role in the naval battle group has been the gospel preached by Adm. Frank L. "Skip" Bowman, the director of Navy reactors. He has been pushing the submarine technology developers to stop studying futuristic concepts on Powerpoint briefings and start building real hardware.

Some real hardware is in the works, in the form of "technology demonstrations" that will test the submarine's capabilities for "time-critical strike," said Rear Adm. John D. Butler, deputy chief of the Naval Sea Systems Command and head of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, at the Washington' D.C., Navy Yard.

The first of such demonstrations is planned for January. It will involve the USS Florida, an Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine that soon will be refurbished to carry special-operations troops and to fire conventional Tomahawk cruise missiles. The Florida and three other Ohio-class boats will become the SSGN class.

Butler sees the SSGN as a "stepping stone, a bridge to the future SSN force." The SSN, or attack submarines, of the future will be the nuclear-powered Virginia class. The Navy so far has ordered four new SSNs, to replace the Los Angeles-class boats.

The SSGN experiments with new technologies will help the Navy decide how it should equip the next batch of Virginia class submarines, Butler said m an interview. "Those technologies we want to test for SSN will be on SSGN."

In the January demo, off the Atlantic coast, the Florida will serve as the operations center for Navy SEAL commandos conducting a mission ashore. In addition to serving as the means of transportation for the SEALs, the Florida will launch, from its...