Gibbs & Cox (a Leidos company) wants to convert oil rigs into mobile missile defense and resupply bases in a concept shown at Sea Air Space 2024.
Aaron-Matthew Lariosa 13 Apr 2024
Gibbs & Cox aims to address the U.S. Navy’s capacity issues in armament and resupply in the Western Pacific by converting surplus oil rigs into heavily armed mobile missile and resupply bases in its Mobile Defense/Depot Platform (MODEP) Concept at Sea Air Space 2024.
“Our target here is to find a solution to help the challenging problem of having capacity issues in the Western Pacific. For not enough cells, not enough missiles, not enough of being able to keep those ships in the forward station” Dave Zook, Solutions Architect & Combat Systems Department Manager at Gibbs & Cox told Naval News.
“MODEP is a large floating island base designed to bolster the layered defense of national interest. It can linger at an ideal distance from shore and is capable of independent operation for over 12 months,” an infographic on the concept claimed.
Created as a stopgap to address ballistic missile defense and the U.S. Navy’s demand for a reloading at-sea solution, MODEP is a product of Gibbs & Cox’s internal research efforts that seeks to leverage the massive space and weight capacity of commercial offshore platforms to address these issues.
While an unconventional approach to addressing the U.S. Navy’s issues, Gibbs & Cox stress the abilities a converted offshore platform brings compared to conventional ships for air defense and sustainment at sea through two concepts shown at SAS 2024. The company claims that both the ballistic missile defense and depot variants could travel at a speed of 5-8 knots to cover around 200 nautical miles a day. “Stability in all sea states, including waves up to 60 feet tall,” was claimed by the company. Total endurance for MODEP is expected to be 150 days and a total range of 4000 nautical miles without refueling.The concept also offers 6-20 MW of extra mission power, a maintenance and repair shop for warships, a 2.3 million gallon fuel capacity, and an initial payload capacity of 8000 metric tons.
According to Gibbs & Cox, a converted platform could support air defense or strike missions at a capacity five times that of an existing U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. Concepts claim that the conversion could hold up to 512 vertical launch system cells or 100 large missile launchers, the latter of which refers to a requirement set forth by the Navy’s DDG(X) program for a more capable launching system that could support larger missiles such as hypersonics. In this air and ballistic missile defense configuration, the company highlights that the platform’s height of 45-90 meters above the waterline will provide “optimal visibility and surveillance” to the associated sensors.Leidos Gibbs & Cox also noted that its concept for ballistic missile defense at sea “reduces risks and costs associated with land-based defense systems.” It should be noted that Japan was considering an oil rig conversation similar to MODEP as an alternative to its canceled Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system.
The concept also aims to support the sustainment of the service’s surface combatants and nuclear submarines through an Afloat Forward Staging Base configuration. Gibbs & Cox’s infographics state that MODEP “offers a stable option for VLS reloading at-sea, depot repair capability and expanded mission potential.” With the Secretary of the Navy identifying a reloading at-sea capability as a “main priority,” this concept aims to solve the complicated task by using two cranes capable of lifting 100 tons to reload VLS cells and deliver other supplies to ships and submarines.The depot configuration also looks to refuel warships at sea utilizing “existing offshore oil and gas technology.”
Another key highlight by Gibbs & Cox is the speed at which these concepts can see the light of day. The company claims that there are 4-6 commercial platforms in the United States that could be converted at low cost, stating that the acquisition of these surplus rigs represents 10% of the total cost for a ballistic missile defense version. Moreover, due to what Gibbs & Cox describe as an “oversupply in the oil market,” total conversion from civilian to military use is expected to “reach readiness within approx. 24 months.”
