The US Navy SEALs are on course to massively upgrade their fleet of Combat Craft Medium boats, 60-foot vessels of vital importance to the insertion and extraction of SEAL teams, with state-of-the-art loitering munitions and higher-end surveillance capabilities to enhance tactical lethality in special operations. These 60-foot vessels are essential for the insertion and extraction of SEAL teams and will be modified with a Multi-Pod Launcher system to fire a broad range of combat and support payloads.
Over the last four years, Special Operations Command integrated a launcher kit into the CCM. The 60-foot-long vessel can reach 52 knots, carry a crew of four with 19 passengers, and is designed to support a total load of 10,000 pounds. This was emphasized during the SOF Week conference. A graphical representation of the launcher indicated a system that could hold eight or more PODs.
The primary goal of the project was to provide boat operators with an onboard “stand-off, loitering, man-in-the-loop weapons system” with the ability to lock onto and target individuals, groups, vehicles, and small sea-bound craft. But it is versatile and can carry other payloads, such as surveillance drones, electromagnetic warfare pods, or sensor packages, for all manner of missions, Cmdr. Marty Burns added.
The final testing and live-fire trials on the launcher kit are expected to take place in late fiscal 2024 or early fiscal 2025. Once the government-approved design for the kit is on hand, the command’s 31-boat fleet of CCMs will be upgraded one at a time so that some portion of the fleet is always available. The shipbuilder Vigor Industrial designed the CCM patrol boat, first commissioned in 2015, to replace the rigid hull inflatable boat.
According to the SOCOM program executive officer for maritime, Navy Capt. Jared Wyrick, the real challenge, considering this issue, is when to enter upon a launcher that would be remounted on the platform that would not create a large heat signature that would set off the adversaries with the spectroscopy. The officers say the command has already launched a new effort to build a replacement for the boats, called the CCM Mk2.
“The improvements in the CCM boats are more than just gunboats. Being able to launch drones for ISR missions and electronic warfare provides SEAL teams with vital intelligence and support that can prove to be game changers in future engagements, likely in denied environments. This is very telling, especially since the US recently shifted to a strategic focus on the Pacific where, in any future conflict, special operations airdrop over the horizon and at night will determine success against a sea-borne assault landing on the enemy shore and littoral.”.
As SEAL preparation continues for potential confrontations in regions like the Pacific, the upgraded CCM manned version would provide valuable close-in support for land operators on friendly island countries like the Philippines or Japan. Under worst-case conflict scenarios, those munition payloads could be used to “soften” defensive structures on opposing islands before SEAL operators dismounted in diving gear far from the shore.
The integration of reconnaissance drones for optical surveillance and electronic support equipment will play a role in measuring the nature of jamming and electronic interference in heavy electronic warfare environments. The launcher module design, not entirely open to the open public, will be expected to carry a mix of one-way attack and pure reconnaissance UAVs, without which special operations missions to achieve shore targets of high interest will not be funded.