This gadget is going to put Captain Nemo out of a job.
The United States Navy has just tested a new self-driving, fish-shaped drone submarine that can hibernate on the sea floor for “very long periods” without having to refuel — and then deliver a wide array of payloads.
Dubbed the “Manta Ray” because of its slick design, the autonomous underwater craft was produced by Northrop Grumman as part of a Navy project to develop underwater drones for long-range missions, according to the Telegraph.
The all-white, smooth-looking vessel can anchor itself to the sea floor and hibernate in low-power mode, the outlet said.
And it uses “efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water,” Dr. Kyle Woerner, Manta Ray program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, said in an agency news release.
“Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing validates the vehicle’s readiness to advance toward real-world operations,” Woerner added. “The craft is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a wide variety of naval mission sets.”
The Navy spent three months testing the craft off the coast of Southern California, the Telegraph added.
Defense analysts suspect the Navy wants to develop drones to counter Russian and Chinese submarine operations, the outlet said.
The Russians have also been developing their own underwater drones, and announced last year their plans to acquire nearly three dozen such craft, the Telegraph said.
The Russians claim the drone can be armed with a nuclear warhead and hit speeds of 100 knots — about 115 mph.
The mini-sub is said to have a range of about 6,200 miles as well, the Telegraph reported.
Ukraine has also been developing the underwater vehicles — which it will use to fight Russia’s Black Sea fleet — while Great Britain and Australia are developing similar craft.
