Ah, standard shipping containers!
Kratos thinks the XQ-58A, rocket boosters, and launcher rail could all fit inside a shipping container. In the event of a crisis with China, the Air Force could deploy the shipping containers to small islands in the Pacific, either by ship or C-130J Super Hercules transport. A small number of Air Force personnel would also deploy with the containers.
The XQ-58A Valkyrie is one of a new generation of drones with near-fighter jet capabilities. The drone is 30 feet long with a 27 foot wingspan, has a top speed of Mach .95, and can carry up to two 250 pound GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs.
In case of war, the idea would be to ship them off to islands for a network of strike assets.
While Military Review published my thoughts on using shipping containers on container ships to create a power projection auxiliary cruiser for the Army for use around Africa (The AFRICOM Queen), my original thought was for the Navy to add anti-ship missiles to the networked fleet.
The Navy is desperate for numbers. Traditionally the answer to that problem was auxiliary cruisers. With weapons and systems in standard shipping containers mounted on container ships, we have the ability to create lethal modularized auxiliary cruisers.
Heck, with a better market for containerized missiles, maybe the Navy's floating facepalm LCS will benefit from new and cheaper modules and be real contributors to sea control missions.
