US: Unmanned subs would revolutionize warfare, analyst says

To counter China's rapidly strengthening submarine fleet, the United States should spur a revolution in undersea warfare by focusing greater attention and resources on developing advanced unmanned underwater vehicles, a top naval analyst said Tuesday.

Such a move could make China's submarine investments "worthless" and secure the Navy's place as the world's premier maritime fleet, said Robert Work, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Struggling domestic shipbuilders, who are urging Congress to increase submarine purchases to two a year by 2009, are capable of changing "the rules of the game" in naval warfare, Work said.

That would be "much more important than two boats a year," he added. Indeed, pouring dollars into research and prototyping efforts for advanced unmanned vehicles could provide industry with "some hedges" against potential cuts in future shipbuilding budgets, said Work, speaking at a Heritage Foundation forum on "Building a New Submarine Fleet."

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