Military Review English Edition May-June 2016 | Página 56

Mk54 Antisubmarine Missile Module Communications Module Classroom Module Mk38 25mm Gun Module Hospital Recovery Module Ship Boarding Module Combat Information Center Module Aviation Support Module (F-35/V-22) Mine Warfare Module Barracks Module Surface-to-Air/ Antimissile Missile Module Unmanned Surface Vehicle/Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Support Module Armory Module RGM-114 Hellfire Surface-to-Surface Missile Module Clinic Module Operating Room Module RGM-84 Harpoon Surface-to-Surface Missile Module Helicopter Support Module Power Module (fuel cells/conventional generators) Module Mk110 57mm Gun Module Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Support Module (Figure by Arin Burgess, Military Review) Figure 1. Examples of Containerized Mission Modules While LCS costs have exceeded expectations, leading the Navy to dramatically restructure the ship class, the modularity concept still has potential for building Army modularized auxiliary cruisers. Denmark had more success with perhaps more restricted ambitions when it built a low-cost flexible support ship designed to use interchangeable “self-contained, 10-foot cubes which contain entire warfighting systems.”12 The ship, HDMS Absalon, which attracted the interest of the U.S. Navy, was “designed to use modularity and scalability to perform a wide variety of missions” such as naval combat, transport, command and control, and humanitarian.13 The concepts of modularity and scalability are key. The modular part of a modularized auxiliary cruiser would be provided by building system components in shipping containers. These proposed containerized mission modules would be easy to move by sea, road, rail, or air, and they would be housed in industry-standard sizes already in use and armored to provide protection for personnel and equipment.14 Commercial container ships stack shipping containers on their decks for maximum usage. For a modularized auxiliary cruiser layout, however, I do not envision stacking containerized mission modules, in order to allow the modules to mount gun turrets or other weapons, antennas, sensors, and gear on the roof of the module. 54 For missions that require more robust self-defense capabilities, the modularized auxiliary cruiser would be equipped with containerized mission modules that included offensive and defensive missiles or gun turrets with small cannons or automatic weapons. Other modules designed for Army, Marine, or U.S. Special Operations Command ground elements would support company-sized teams tailored to the specific mission, whether combat, training, or humanitarian. Modules to support civil affairs and Special Forces, plus helicopters or unmanned aerial vehicles, would supplement combat elements. Some modules would contain power supplies for other containerized mission modules, while others would house the communications systems to plug a ship into USAFRICOM’s command-and-control network. Figure 1 provides hypothetical examples of containerized mission modules. The scalability part of a modularized auxiliary cruiser comes from the platform. Larger or smaller container ships could be selected for conversion, depending on the size, complexity, and duration of the envisioned mission. Any container ship selected would have the deck space to accommodate containerized mission modules and room to launch, land, and stow rotary- or fixed-wing manned or unmanned aircraft. Using an appropriately sized container ship, the modularized auxiliary cruiser would be converted May-June 2016  MILITARY REVIEW