The SCX 26, a vision of the warship of the 2040s, has been revealed by French shipbuilder Naval Group, complete with an unusual double superstructure, energy weapons, and advanced tech built to withstand the intense sea battles of tomorrow.
Naval technology is shifting with alarming speed, but two things are certain. First, predicting exactly what the fleet of the future will look like is extremely difficult. Second, whatever it looks like, it will have to deal with a world where ships face the constant threat of massed missile attacks and swarming drones.
As a result, future warships must adapt to unpredictable threats while executing rapidly changing missions. That requires a highly flexible, modular design combined with cutting-edge technology.
SCX 26
The SCX 26 is a concept for an 8,000 to 10,000-tonne warship that emphasizes firepower, physical resilience, and modular adaptability. It acts not only as a strike platform, but as a command-and-control mothership capable of managing complex networks of crewed and uncrewed platforms.
The concept measures 170 m (558 ft) in length, with a top speed of 30 knots (35 mph, 56 km/h) and a range of 8,000 nautical miles (9,206 miles, 14,816 km). Below deck, it provides accommodations for a core crew of 150, plus up to 100 drone operators, special mission forces, and fleet command staff.
As for teeth, the SCX 26 features room for up to 128 vertical launch system (VLS) cells in fore and aft bays, accommodating air-defense, anti-submarine, anti-hypersonic, and land-attack missiles. Complementing the VLS is a 100-kW laser weapon for engaging large drone attacks, a stealth 57-mm electromagnetic railgun turret teamed with 360-degree secondary artillery that’s remotely controlled.
Meanwhile, there is a general mission space amidships for the insertion of mission modules, while in the stern is a large hangar with a large electric lift for storing, maintaining, launching, and recovering a wide variety of air, surface, and underwater drones.
But the party piece is the two elevated stealth superstructures, each of which has its own bridge and a distributed mast configuration of antennas and sensors. According to the company, the purpose of this is to provide redundancy to allow the ship to continue to fight after taking a catastrophic hit, whether it’s from a missile or a cyber attack.
Along with this, using the two superstructures spread out the electronics, communications systems, radar, and electronic warfare assets for both better area coverage and minimal interference with one another. This is especially important because the SCX 26 is intended for commanding a larger force of other ships, drones, aircraft, and other assets by way of a digital network that allows every part to act together in real time as well as autonomously.
Source: Naval Group
