SEALs + USSOCOM next generation sub UOES3
UPDATED
All information from public sources
GSE Trieste ‘Button 5.60’ - UOES3 dry-SDV
Italian submarine designers manage to blend the country’s famous flair for style with very effective engineering. nd few come as accomplished as the legendary (well, within the midget submarine world) Dr. Giunio Santi of GSE in Trieste, Italy. His latest military creation is the Button 5.60 which is undergoing trials as the next generation dry-SDV for USSOCOM including US Navy SEALs. US partner is General Dynamics in association with famous submarine builder Electric Boat. In USSOCOM speak it is the “User Operational Evaluation System-3” (UOES3) but I really think that they should have called it Beauty.
Original artwork - CLICK for HIGH-RESOLUTION image.
Unusually for a dry submersible (where the crew are kept dry, unlike a wet-sub like current SDVs) the type is designed to fit within a lightly enlarged Dry Deck Shelter (DDS). This will make it compatible with most US Navy submarines (subject to minor modifications) and greatly reduces the complexities of submarine carriage.
It takes a very special set of engineering kills to build such a small dry sub which is still operationally viable so USSOCOM turned to proven European designers, among them Giunio Santi. This was he man behind the Maritalia submarines of the 1980s, most famously the 3GST9 design.
UOES3 Button 5.60 while being tested by USSOCOM.
Lineage
More recently Giunio Santi has been building private super-sbs for the mega wealthy. Pegaso:
The ultimate book of Special Forces subs Covert Shores 2nd Edition is the ONLY world history of naval Special Forces, their missions and their specialist vehicles. SEALs, SBS, COMSUBIN, Sh-13, Spetsnaz, Kampfschwimmers, Commando Hubert, 4RR and many more.
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Button 5.60 photographed outside the hull casing fabricator, Quick Batten of Trieste, Italy. Photos from ilpiccolo.gelocal.it
These two shots of her on the surface (from Corriere, IT) show both masts extended.
Specification
Length: 9.7m (31ft)
Beam: 1.9m (6.3ft)
Height: 1.9m (6.3ft)
Displacement: 17.7 tons
Operating depth: 60m (190ft)
Maximum depth: 110m (360ft)
Lock-out depth for divers: 37m (120ft)
Speed:
Endurance: 60nm at 5kts
Complement: 2 crew and 4 passengers
Arrangement
The Button 5.60 reverses the usual lauout of an SDV with the crew in the back, passengers in the middle and lock-out chamber in the bow. The lock-out chamber allows divers to exit the submarine underwater using hatches located top and bottom of the chamber. A third hatch in the front of the chamber allows access to the sub whilst it in in the Dry Deck Shelter (DDS). A forth hatch is positioned above the dry crew compartment for emergency escape and on-surface access.
Most photos from ilpiccolo.gelocal.it/trieste
Testing
The submersible hidden in plain sight on a test barge.
Approaching the craft from the front. The outer access hatch is open but the thick glass inner hatch is still closed.
A rare view inside the submarine through the forward hatch. The room closest to the camera is the diver lock-out chamber with an exit hatch overhead and a hatch at the back entering into the main cabin.
Appendix - related civilian development
The VAS series (VAS-525, 535…) are very cool rich-boy toys but less advanced. Main visual difference is large viewing ports (below the waterline) and high-mounted hydroplanes.
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