An uncrewed sonar platform could process some of its observations locally before transmitting information to the crewed ship. That would reduce the amount of data the communications link has to carry. The proposal remains limited to craft within line of sight, with ASW sensors as the principal example. Small guns or point-defence missiles are suggested as an additional role because such craft would stay close enough to help engage incoming threats. This is a bounded supporting task, with the crewed ship still responsible for the wider operation.
Notable Point · 3:58:37-3:59:39
Processing sonar data aboard an uncrewed sensor craft
Local processing could reduce an uncrewed sonar craft's communications demands while it remains close to the crewed ship.