Submarines have been an integral part of the arsenals of many nations throughout the history of naval warfare. Submarines were designed to protect ships at sea and are extremely efficient in their respective missions. However, the vulnerability of these boats has led to them being labeled "silent service." Today, the Navy has been working on a number of new submarine concepts. These new designs will address some of these shortcomings that submarines had to overcome in the past.
The future submarine design is an automated and stealthy boat that will fill many gaps in submarine operations. It could act as a host platform to unmanned vehicles as well as a test ground for innovative arrangements. It has the potential to take over time-consuming training duties for officers.
Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, and others participated in the Nautilus 100 project. Participants were challenged to imagine the future of underwater warfare. It includes an alloy- and acrylic-based hull, as well unmanned eel arms. The team explored new technologies and designed the ship. Electronic graphene scales are used to transform the concept into various shapes.
The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom has been developing future submarine designs. They have come up with a variety of ideas, including dissolving vessels, swarming fish inspired missiles and underwater vehicles shaped as manta rays. The submarine has a hyperbaric chamber to allow divers to be decompressed.
Next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarines will focus less on land-attack and more heavily on deep-water antisubmarine operations. These submarines won't be used as much for Special Forces support, or inshore operations. A smaller crew will also aid in retention. These new submarines would also require at-sea certifications and maintenance to keep them operational. These new submarines will be comparable to 1.8 single-crew SSNs during mission days.
One of the most obvious concepts in these new submarine designs is twin outboard pumpjet propulsors. In the past, almost all new submarine designs have featured a single propulsor on the center line. This required the removal of the stern-aspect missile rooms from the vessel's design. The advantage of this design is that it would allow the installation of a special forces chamber within the flank weapon module.
British BAE Systems’ concept includes twin faired-in pumpsjets, aft tanks of ballast and a diving chamber that can also be used for diver compression. It also has a laying position for casualty handling. The Sperm Whale also inspired this design. It will be on display at the Euronaval Exhibition in Paris.
Another concept, called the Concept of Operations or CONOPS, is a small littoral submarine that is used in theaters. This design attempts to overcome the speed disadvantages inherent in conventional boats. It is deployed from forward-operating bases. The submarine can carry multiple Swimmer delivery vehicles. The submarine has a turtle-back design to permit it to quickly escape from a capsize.