Spartan Unmanned Surface Vehicle Scouts Persian Gulf

Sea Power, Feb 2004

The cruiser USS Gettysburg - a unit of the USS Enterprise. Carrier Strike Group deployed in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea - is introducing a new unmanned watercraft to real-world operations. The product of an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration under the direction of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, R.I., the Spartan unmanned surface vehicle (USV), has been conducting operations in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

The Spartan Scout is a "modular, reconfigurable, multimission, high-speed, semi-autonomous USV capable of carrying payloads of 3,000 and 5,000 pounds for 7-meter and 11-meter craft, respectively," Navy officials said in a release. The Spartan Scout USV deployed on the Gettysburg is the ISR Spiral (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance spiral development) version, a 7-meter-long rigid-hull inflatable boat fitted with an electro-optical/infrared sensor turret, a surface-search radar, a digital imagery transmission system, and a remote control suite. The USV is being evaluated as a force-protection system against asymmetric threats such as small boats, able to rapidly establish the plot of possible threatening craft around the carrier strike group and provide real-time observation of maritime interdiction boardings.

The only personnel required to handle the USV during operations is a two-man boat crew to launch and recover the USV. The Spartan is controlled via a data link with three laptop computers in the combat direction center of the cruiser.

The Spartan has potential applications to a wide variety of warfare roles, including port security, mine detection, antisubmarine warfare, surface surveillance, communications relay, and strike against targets at sea or ashore. Short-range tactical missiles - such as Hellfire or Javelin - are envisioned for the Spartan to give it the capability to attack shipping, such as small boats or ships and shore facilities. The Spartan's relative low cost enhances its suitability for high-risk operations and reduces or eliminates unnecessary risk to sailors and ships to hostile fire or rough weather in such operations.

The Spartan was one of the reasons Secretary of the Navy Gordon England visited the Gettysburg during a trip to the Persian Gulf.

"Future Spirals are planned to demonstrate its warfighting capability in scenarios engaging hostile threats with gun and missile systems," said Dr. Vittorio Ricci, program manager of the Spartan at NUWC. "Additional demonstrations will include mine warfare capabilities. Also, planning is ongoing to develop and demonstrate antisubmarine warfare capabilities."