How Scion USV Use Electronic Warfare Payloads for Real-Time Combat
At Silent Swarm 2024, sophisticated EW and autonomy payloads were deployed on a distributed team of uncrewed autonomous vehicles, providing data to the command and control software and an advanced situational awareness tool, as seen above. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)
Enabling Off-the-Shelf Autonomous Naval Warfare For Maritime Domain Operations
The future of naval warfare is increasingly autonomous, as uncrewed systems take on critical roles in surveillance, electronic warfare, and multi-domain operations. At the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Silent Swarm 2024 exercise, Northrop Grumman demonstrated advancements in autonomous technologies with two mission-ready solutions: Helix and Scion. These systems are designed to enhance maritime domain awareness (MDA), strengthen fleet survivability, and extend the U.S. Navy’s operational reach.
Advancing Autonomous Naval Capabilities
Scion: Modular Electronic Warfare for USVs
Scion is a versatile electronic warfare (EW) payload tailored for surface operations. It integrates seamlessly with uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), leveraging a common interface to turn commercial platforms into robust military assets. Key features include:
- Radio Frequency (RF) Detection: Scion identifies and geolocates RF emissions from potential threats, including enemy communications and radar.
- Distributed Operations: By coordinating with other autonomous systems, Scion contributes to collaborative mission execution, such as target detection and tracking.
- Platform Agnosticism: The payload can be deployed on a wide range of uncrewed platforms, allowing for rapid and cost-effective scaling.
At Silent Swarm 2024, Scion-equipped USVs worked alongside aerial systems to find and fix target vessels in real-time.
Helix: Autonomy and Multi-Domain Coordination
Helix is a software-driven ecosystem that integrates uncrewed platforms and sensors across air, surface, and subsurface domains. It serves as the autonomy engine for collaborative operations, enabling:
- Swarming Behaviors: Helix coordinates multiple uncrewed systems to execute tasks such as surveillance, reconnaissance, and target tracking.
- Multi-Layered Situational Awareness: By synthesizing inputs from diverse payloads, Helix provides operators with a dynamic, 3D battlespace view.
- Digital Twin Integration: This feature allows mission planners to simulate scenarios in a virtual environment, ensuring optimized deployments and reduced operational risks.
During Silent Swarm, Helix orchestrated a fleet of UAVs and USVs, showcasing its ability to enhance operational synergy in maritime environments.
Silent Swarm 2024: Demonstrating Autonomous Coordination
The Silent Swarm exercise provided a live demonstration of how uncrewed systems equipped with Helix and Scion can operate collaboratively. The mission concept involved:
- Detection: UAVs launched by Helix scanned the maritime domain for RF signals emitted by target vessels.
- Collaboration: USVs equipped with Scion used these detections to refine target locations and confirm threats.
- Tracking and Engagement: Autonomous systems worked in concert to track vessels, feeding real-time data to command and control centers for actionable insights.
The exercise underscored the potential of distributed autonomous systems to address gaps in maritime domain awareness, particularly in scenarios where crewed assets may be unavailable or at risk.
Key Advantages of Off-the-Shelf Autonomous Solutions
Operational Flexibility
By integrating off-the-shelf commercial platforms with mission-specific payloads, Northrop Grumman enables rapid deployment of capabilities without the lengthy development timelines of purpose-built systems.
Cost-Effectiveness
The use of modular, platform-agnostic technologies reduces the financial burden of developing new assets. Collaborative procurement and digital engineering further enhance affordability.
Survivability and Resilience
Autonomous systems operate in high-risk areas without endangering personnel, extending operational reach into contested environments while preserving human resources for critical missions.
Strategic Implications for Naval Warfare
The integration of Helix and Scion into uncrewed maritime platforms aligns with the U.S. Navy’s goals of increasing capacity, capability, and interoperability in response to near-peer adversaries. These technologies are particularly suited to address emerging threats such as:
- Grey Zone Conflicts: Enhancing surveillance and EW capabilities in contested waters where traditional rules of engagement may not apply.
- Distributed Maritime Operations: Supporting the Navy’s distributed lethality strategy by enabling smaller, networked platforms to carry out critical missions.
- Electronic Countermeasures: Countering adversary communications and radar systems with precise and adaptive EW solutions.
Conclusion: Autonomous Systems as Force Multipliers
Northrop Grumman’s Helix and Scion systems demonstrate the transformative potential of uncrewed platforms in naval warfare. By leveraging commercial technology with advanced payloads, these solutions enable faster deployments, enhance operational reach, and reduce costs.
As autonomous capabilities continue to mature, their role as force multipliers in maritime operations will grow, allowing the U.S. Navy to maintain superiority in an increasingly contested global environment. The success of Silent Swarm 2024 provides a blueprint for future applications, showcasing how off-the-shelf solutions can be adapted to meet the demands of modern naval warfare.
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