IDEX: UCAVS are now becoming ship-shape

Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) have sprung to prominence in both land and air warfare in recent years. Now, they are on the verge of making their presence felt in the naval world. Türkiye, China and Brazil have all demonstrated, or plan to bring into service, major vessels that operate UAVs as their main aircraft fleets.

How these vessels will deploy their air components remains to be seen – concepts of operations are still being worked out.

The conflict in Ukraine has seen miniature drones used in their thousands, and concerns have been raised that certain countries will shortly have the ability to deploy huge, coordinated swarms of small UAVs that will overwhelm air defences by sheer numbers.

Or, at the very least, they will force defenders to expend highly-expensive SAM stocks to shoot down adversaries that cost just a few thousand, or tens of thousands of dollars apiece.

Such very short-range UAVs are unlikely to play a role in future naval engagements, simply because their launch platform would have to get so close to its objective that it would itself become a target for opposition vessels and missiles.

However, longer-range UAVs will significantly extend the range and awareness of a navy that does not possess large aircraft carriers that can carry fast jets or airborne early warning aircraft.

Commissioned in 2023, the flagship of the Turkish navy, TCG Anadolu, is an amphibious assault carrier, but is also described as the world’s first flat-top whose primary complement of aircraft consists of uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAVs). The carrier can also, of course, carry helicopters, but reports say it can host up to 50 UCAVs, notably the Bayraktar TB3.

The TB3 can carry a payload of only 280kg, but that is enough to install several light, guided munitions or, probably more usefully, a range of interchangeable sensors, such as active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, electro-optical/infra-red (EO/IR) pods or electronic intelligence (ELINT) equipment.

Most importantly, it has an endurance of around 21 hours, so a small number of TB3s could easily mount a 24-hour picket several hundred kilometres from their mother ship.

Anadolu features a 12-degree ‘ski-ramp’ bow to help the UCAVs get into the air.

China, meanwhile, is pumping out new naval vessels at a quite astonishing rate. Among them is the Type 076 amphibious assault vessel. Launched last December, Sichuan is a vessel of more than 40,000 tons that has been designed from the outset to have a UAV-carrying capability.

Unlike the Turkish TB3 on board the Anadolu, the Type 076 seems destined to operate altogether more sophisticated UCAVs, such as the Flying Dragon-2, a stealthy, flying-wing design that analysts believe is designed for long-range strike against high-value targets such as vessels or ground installations.

Its weight, estimated at 22,000kg, with a 6,000kg payload, means that it cannot perform an unaided take-off. Rather, it will make use of Sichuan’s electromagnetic catapult.

Again, much remains unknown about the vessel and its UCAV complement.

The Sichuan can also carry combat helicopters. In all, it would seem to be designed to be well-suited to take part in any operation by China to take Taiwan by force – a course of action that Beijing has said it will consider if the island democracy seeks to formalise its de facto independence.

Halfway across the world, meanwhile, Brazil has adapted the ‘multipurpose aircraft carrier’ Atlantico (the former British helicopter carrier Ocean) to have a UAV capability.

Aviation Week reported in January that Brazil’s Stella Tecnologia was hoping to start testing its Albatroz UAS on board Atlantico later this year. Albatroz is a 500kg, twin-boom machine and has an endurance of 24 hours, around six times that of the helicopters that the ship will also embark.

This would undertake a variety of duties, including hunting for illegal fishing activities and search and rescue missions.