Wayne King-Meiouf : The 5th Generation

Today Professor Wayne King-Meiouf discusses the next generation of DDS warships.

The DDS use generational nomenclature to describe the development of their space forces. Currently we are at the beginning of the 4th Generation (or 4G). To recap the generations so far are :

• G1 - singleton and research ships
• G2 - series production of the best G1 designs (e.g. Pulsar, Intrepid)
• G3 - common design and components plus greater performance and firepower, wireless control (e.g. Quasar, Isometric)
• G4 - mission modularity, full Open Architecture 2.0+ (e.g. Panther, Rome)

I am going to look at the 5th Generation. Now when the 4th will cross over to the 5th is unknown and will depend on what a 5G ship is defined as. I think that 3 core technologies need to mature to form the 5G and only one of these is currently in service in any meaningful manner.

• Networking
• Worm Drive
• Unmanned Operation

These three technologies will define 5G but only the 1st is used at present though the DDS do have small unmanned craft (the Ferret). 5G will be a synergy of these 3 technologies. But what does that mean?

A 5G warship will be totally network aware, it will seamlessly use data from it's own sensors and beyond as well as contribute data to the theatre. It will not matter if the missile it has fired has been targeted using it's own sensors or another ship. It will not even matter if the missile it fired was from it's own launcher or another ship. This is something the DDS are working hard on already with passive sensors, remote sensor projection and virtual theatre systems all in development. In some ways the DDS are already bringing these together but it will take around 5 years to really get the seamless data fusion required.

A 5G warship will be able to operate with unmanned assets and maybe also operate itself as an unmanned ship using remote crewing (FIDO). It is also possible that larger ships may be able to detach an unmanned combat module for highly dangerous missions.

A 5G warship will have wormdrive and top speeds 5+ times faster than can be achieved now. This will mean the DDS can operate much further from base than is the case now but of course it will also mean as the DDS covers a greater area then the speed increase will be neutralised by the greater distances that need to be travelled.

So lets put these together and look at a 5G frigate. Perhaps a ship to replace the Isometric in the 2120s. It will have worm drive of course, a top speed over 5000c and a traditional propulsion speed well over 1000c. It will be able to be operated and maintained remotely using FIDO crewing and automated repair and maintenance systems. Some degree of artificial intelligence is also likely. It will be able to accept data input from dozens of other ships, stations and fuse it with it's own.

What else should a 5G warship have? I purposely have not mentioned weapons as these cross generations (e.g. G2 Pulsars with TPM2).