Civilian oil platforms might be modified into provide depots and missile launchers
An American army contractor desires to repurpose unused oil rigs as cell bases that might assist resupply US Navy vessels within the Pacific and carry missile protection launchers.
Gibbs & Cox, a naval structure subsidiary of Leidos, offered the Cell Protection/Depot Platform (MODEP) idea on the Sea Air Area 2024 exhibit in Washington, DC earlier this month.
“Our goal right here is to discover a answer to assist the difficult drawback of getting capability points within the Western Pacific. For not sufficient cells, not sufficient missiles, not sufficient of with the ability to hold these ships within the ahead station,” Dave Zook, described because the options architect and fight techniques division supervisor at Gibbs & Cox, advised Naval Information.
In line with the idea, MODEP can be “a big floating island base” able to positioning itself “at a great distance from shore” and independently working for nearly six months. It might have both a provide or a missile protection configuration, as wanted.
The US Navy at the moment lacks the potential to reload the missile launchers of its ships and submarines at sea. The availability MODEP would remedy this by having two cranes able to lifting 100 tons every.
The missile protection base model might maintain as much as 512 Vertical Launch System (VLS) missile cells, or as much as 100 of the brand new Massive Missile Launchers (LML). The idea additionally “reduces dangers and prices related to land-based protection techniques,” Leidos and Gibbs & Cox additionally stated. Japan has thought-about utilizing transformed oil rigs as an alternative choice to its canceled Aegis Ashore missile protection program.
Each variants might journey at speeds of 5-8 knots to cowl about 200 nautical miles a day and preserve stability even in waves as much as 60 toes (20 meters) tall. The idea requires the MODEP to have a variety of 4,000 nautical miles with out refueling, generate between 6-20 megawatts of energy, maintain as much as 2.3 million gallons (8.7 million liters) of gasoline and host a upkeep and restore store for warships.
The perfect half, in accordance with Gibbs & Cox, is that there are as much as six industrial oil rigs that might be transformed to army use at a comparatively low value attributable to an “oversupply within the oil market.” The platforms might be prepared inside as little as two years, the corporate stated.
Neither the Pentagon nor the Navy have formally commented on the proposal.
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