Dominant Logistics
Rethinking Netfires
The Netfires program has been the subject of scrutiny in some circles due to its excessive costs and pie-in-the-sky dreams of capabilities, like autonomous operating capabilities and excessive range. This shouldn't prevent us from pursuing the overall concept though as it would be quite useful in restructuring the employment of artillery in the future. In particular, an appropriate version of Netfires could serve in ground, sea, and airborne configurations and result in dramatic improvements in the logistical sustainability of artillery operations.
The Concept
The basic concept of Netfires is to develop a family of artillery missiles based upon a vertical launcher design. The box launcher is fully autonomous, meaning it can operate on it's own without a support vehicle. Light enough to ride in the back of a HMMWV, Netfires can be deployed by ground or air assets throughout a theater and networked by radios to engage an enemy rapidly. The launch unit includes power generation and control systems, as well as a total of 15 missiles, each with a warhead similar in size and capability to a 155mm artillery shell.
Proposed Applications
Obviously, a variety of ground systems could employ Netfires but of particular interest is the ability to load a group of Netfires launchers on the proposed TSV. Projections indicate that six Netfires launchers should fit on a single tactical pallet, giving this system a total of 90 vertical launch ready rounds per pallet, and if we were really getting nervous about lack of firepower, a trailer with an additional 90 could be added to the mix quite easily, allowing for an impressive salvo of 180 rounds equivalent to 155mm. And with the TSV, a complete reload can be accomplished in a matter of minutes simply by swapping out pallets.
Where things get even more interesting is if we enable the missiles to be fired from positions other than vertical. For example, a horizontal firing capability would enable the Netfires launcher to be used on helicopters or even slow fixed wing aircraft as an airborne rocket artillery system. A single Blackhawk would probably be able to carry four Netfires launchers in this configuration allowing for 60 missiles in this arrangement, giving that Blackhawk the firepower of a self-propelled howitzer with the ability to fly back to the reload point.
Another possibility is to use the Netfires in our modernized AC-130 concept. My proposal is to use a pallet system to replace the existing 105mm artillery gun on the AC-130 to allow for the implementation of a greater variety of weaponry. In this case, we would swap out the gun in favor of Netfires pallets. Netfires features greater range and lethality than the 105mm shell and could be used against a greater variety of targets, especially in low intensity conflicts. The Netfires system features a soft-launch capability with no backblast so the rounds are suitable for this application and guidance on the missiles will counter any problems with side-firing from an aircraft.
Another useful role for the Netfires would be to replace the Harpoon and Sea Sparrow box launchers on some Navy ships. Few nations can provide suitable targets for these legacy systems while Netfires would offer an effective counter to threats like that which devastated the U.S.S. Cole. Netfires would also be a more suitable round for operations like coastal patrols where the targets are small craft. It could also be used as a vertical launch system for smaller ships giving them a high volume and flexible firepower system.
Other Projectile Options
As has been the case with naval vertical launch systems, the Netfires will be found to be a very suitable option for a much wider variety of roles. For example, this looks like a very promising alternative to traditional land-based air defense missile arrangements. A modernized Stinger missile could probably fit into the Netfires launcher tubes in even greater capacity than 15 missiles per launcher, giving us a very high volume of SHORAD missile capability that can engage more targets in shorter periods of time because it doesn't have to slew towards the target.
Another projectile would be a disposable recon system, not unlike the sensors on the E-FOGM systems. Instead of using an explosive warhead, we could include a resillient balloon that would allow the sensor to float over areas of the battlefield providing views behind enemy lines. Instead of a single, short-term view this camera could float over the enemy for an extended period and would be very small and thus, difficult to detect and shoot down. Think of this as a modern equivalent to the illumination round but with greater duration of operation.
References:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/net-fires.htm