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The Navy’s Swimming Spy Plane

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  • The Navy’s Swimming Spy Plane

    From Popular Science:
    http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviatio...cbccdrcrd.html
    It floats, it flies, it eliminates enemy targets—meet the water-launched unmanned enforcer



    Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, famed for the U-2 and Blackbird spy planes
    that flew higher than anything else in the world in their day, is trying for a different altitude record: an airplane that starts and ends its mission 150 feet underwater. The Cormorant, a stealthy, jet-powered, autonomous aircraft that could be outfitted with either short-range weapons or surveillance equipment, is designed to launch out of the Trident missile tubes in some of the U.S. Navy’s gigantic Cold War–era Ohio-class submarines. These formerly nuke-toting subs have become less useful in a military climate evolved to favor surgical strikes over nuclear stalemates, but the Cormorant could use their now-vacant tubes to provide another unmanned option for spying on or destroying targets near the coast.

    This is no easy task. The tubes are as long as a semi trailer but about seven feet wide—not exactly airplane-shaped. The Cormorant has to be strong enough to withstand the pressure 150 feet underwater—enough to cave in hatches on a normal aircraft—but light enough to fly. Another challenge: Subs survive by stealth, and an airplane flying back to the boat could give its position away.

    The Skunk Works’s answer is a four-ton airplane with gull wings that hinge around its body to fit inside the missile tube. The craft is made of titanium to resist corrosion, and any empty spaces are filled with plastic foam to resist crushing. The rest of the body is pressurized with inert gas. Inflatable seals keep the weapon-bay doors, engine inlet and exhaust covers watertight.

    The Cormorant does not shoot out of its tube like a missile. Instead an arm-like docking “saddle” guides the craft out, sending it floating to the surface while the sub slips away. As the drone pops out of the water, the rocket boosters fire and the Cormorant takes off. After completing its mission, the plane flies to the rendezvous coordinates it receives from the sub and lands in the sea. The sub then launches a robotic underwater vehicle to fetch the floating drone.

    The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) is funding tests of some of the Cormorant’s unique systems, including a splashdown model and an underwater-recovery vehicle. The tests should be completed by September, after which Darpa will decide whether it will fund a flying prototype.



    http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviatio...cbccdrcrd.html
    A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

  • #2
    Interesting, but rather farfetched and impractical.

    Comment


    • #3
      Popular Science has always been interesting reading, but some of its projections hinge on science fiction rather than fact. An example was a few decades ago they predicted that a soldier's combat uniform would include Bermuda Shorts and they had no mention of body armor at all. One of their neatest bits of imagination was a small egg-shaped "tank" that had three individual tracks mounted like a tricycle.

      However, another one of their "wild" ideas was an exo-skeleton of steel bars with hydraulically boosted joints for lifting heavy materials. It showed an illustration of an auto mechanic carrying a V-8 engine in one hand. Well, it took a while but a similar (and much larger) "suit" was built and even used by Sigourney Weaver in "Alien". Just within the past couple of days I have seen photographs of a Japanese design that is more like the compact design of the Popular Science concept. But this design, so far, is intended to assist people with disabilities but plans for super lifting power are in the works.
      Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

      Comment


      • #4
        Actually its a LM program and is being funded by DARPA.

        More from DARPA:
        Cormorant Submarine/Sea-Launched & Recovered Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MPUAV)

        Program Manager: Mr. Van Olinger

        Overview

        The Cormorant Submarine/Sea-Launched and Recovered Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MPUAV) is a unique concept to extend the capabilities of the newly modified OHIO-Class SSGN submarine as well as surface combatants such as the Littoral Combat Ship. It could enable renewable, organic air operations for long-range, survivable, all-weather reconnaissance, battle damage assessment, or specialized mission support (e.g., special forces re-supply) in a broad spectrum of operations. In particular, the combination of a stealthy SSGN submarine platform and a survivable MPUAV could introduce new capabilities to support future joint warfighting operations in high-threat scenarios.

        The current effort addresses critical technical aspects of the overall MPUAV system concept. Key risk reduction demonstrations include submerged docking tests using a full-scale, instrumented MPUAV mock-up/test article, and a mechanism placed on the sea floor to emulate the launch and recovery "saddle" that would be extended from a SSGN missile tube. A remotely operated vehicle will be used to demonstrate the in-haul recovery cable/MPUAV tether hook-up event. A second test article will emulate the forward half of the MPUAV to be utilized for instrumented splashdown testing of structural loads. Additionally, rapid starting of a representative turbofan engine using high-pressure gas will be demonstrated in a test fixture.

        The MPUAV concept envisions the immersible MPUAVs being housed and serviced in the ballistic missile launch tubes of the SSGN. They would be released from the submerged submarine and remain buoyant at the water’s surface until launched using two Tomahawk missile-derived solid rocket boosters. Upon mission completion, the turbofan engine-powered MPUAVs return to a designated retrieval point at sea, initiate engine shut down, and splash down to await recovery. During recovery, the submerged SSGN would deploy a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to secure an in-haul cable from the SSGN to the recovery tether deployed by the MPUAV. The SSGN would then haul the MPUAV to its designated launch tube saddle mechanism, where it would be docked and retracted into the missile tube. The buoyant launch and recovery mode of the MPUAV would also allow it to be operated from surface ships. Access to various types of MPUAV launch and recovery platforms could provide increased operational and maintenance flexibility. A decision on future phases will be made once the results of current experiments are available.

        http://www.darpa.mil/ucar/programs/cormorant.htm

        Also featured in WSJ...
        One Small Step for Drones
        Legendary 'Skunk Works' Helps Lockheed Martin Jump Into Unmanned-Plane Market
        By JONATHAN KARP
        Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
        February 7, 2006; Page B1

        PALMDALE, Calif. -- For decades, Lockheed Martin Corp. has pioneered innovative warplanes -- the kind that take pilots higher, faster and more stealthily into enemy airspace. Now, the defense giant is diving into a sizzling market that it previously ceded to rivals, one that will keep pilots on the ground.

        As unmanned aircraft prove to be essential to modern warfare in Iraq and elsewhere, Lockheed is shedding its ambivalence and busily developing concepts for newfangled drones. One drone would be launched from, and retrieved by, submarines; another would fly at nine times the speed of sound. A third, which is off the drawing board but not quite airborne, has wings designed to fold in flight so that it could rapidly turn from slow-speed spy plane to quick-strike bomber.

        Lockheed is drawing its drones from the same well that produced its stealth fighters: the company's secretive Skunk Works unit. And the unmanned craft are just as radical as some of the unit's past creations. "You have to throw out conventional aerodynamics," Skunk Works head Frank Cappuccio says of the so-called morphing drone, with the folding wings.
        [Frank Cappuccio]

        As it pursues cutting-edge technologies, Lockheed -- maker of the world's costliest fighter plane, the F-22 -- also wants to throw out conventional economics. The drone ideas it has disclosed are relatively inexpensive, more in the spirit of trailblazing models made in Israel than the $57 million Global Hawk unmanned spy jet made by Northrop Grumman Corp. at the same Mojave Desert airfield where the Skunk Works sits.

        The U.S. arsenal should have plenty of room for both types. The fiscal 2007 Pentagon budget unveiled yesterday proposes boosting spending on unmanned aircraft to $1.7 billion next year. A separate long-term Pentagon blueprint calls for a quantum leap in drones, from hand-launched planes for battlefield surveillance and pilotless scout helicopters to long-range unmanned bombers that military planners expect to make up nearly half of the Air Force's future strike fleet.

        Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst for the Teal Group outside Washington, says that even though Lockheed hasn't been a big drone manufacturer, the company could play a large role in this emerging market. "I think the smart money is on smaller, simpler drones and the operating systems that make them effective," he says. "That's where Lockheed is well positioned to add value."

        Lockheed's focus on drones comes after years of wrestling over developing unmanned planes for fear of undermining its franchise business in fighter jets. The company now feels both more secure about funding for its fighter programs and more compelled to jump on the multibillion-dollar drone bandwagon. The country's biggest defense contractor by sales, Lockheed is perceived as playing catchup in drones to Northrop and Boeing Co., and small firms such as closely held General Atomics, whose Predator -- armed with a Lockheed-made missile -- has been used to hunt down al-Qaeda figures.

        That Mr. Cappuccio, a fast-talking, 59-year-old aeronautical dreamer, has gingerly lifted the shroud of secrecy over Skunk Works attests to the importance of the drone market as well as Lockheed's desire to be recognized, as he says, for "trying to shape it."
        [Concept drone]
        Concept drone's wings can fold in flight.

        Set up in 1943 to create the first U.S. fighter jet, the Skunk Works has been at the vanguard of flight. Its name, a registered Lockheed trademark, is derived from Skonk Works, a mysterious locale in the "Li'l Abner" comic strip where they distilled Kickapoo Joy Juice. Hiding in plain sight in Burbank (its factory once was camouflaged as a residential neighborhood with help from Walt Disney Co.) and later in Palmdale, Skunk Works engineers created the U-2 spy plane, the SR-71 supersonic spy plane and the radar-evading F-117 stealth fighter. During a rare visit by an outsider to the Skunk Works complex, a factory hall was filled with the prototype of a massive helium-filled airship that one day might ferry troops and heavy equipment to distant battlefields faster and more efficiently than ships -- no port or airbase needed. The blimp would float just above the ground on four hover pads, meaning that "you could literally pick a farmer's field" to set down in, says program manager Robert Boyd. The airship had its maiden flight last week.

        Though no drones were buzzing around, the Skunk Works these days devotes some 40% to 50% of its own research funds to unmanned aircraft, Mr. Cappuccio says. Quietly, Lockheed has already contributed to the drone revolution. Skunk Works developed flight-control systems for the Dragon Eye, a five-pound, hand-launched reconnaissance drone used by Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2003.

        It also designed and delivered the seven-pound Desert Hawk within 127 days of receiving an Air Force request. The total cost for the first six drones and laptop-computer control system was less than $400,000, Mr. Cappuccio says. To date, Lockheed says it has supplied 126 Desert Hawks, which are used for surveillance to protect U.S. bases in Iraq.

        The Skunk Works's new concepts, like the morphing drone, are more ambitious. With funding from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, the Skunk Works set out to develop a plane whose wings can fold inward in flight so it can transform from a slow, loitering aircraft into a speedy plane that swoops in to drop a bomb. The project tests the viability of new materials for aircraft skins and "smart" controls that enable the plane to morph within "10 to 20 seconds without falling out of the sky," Mr. Cappuccio says.

        The drone hasn't yet made it aloft, however. First, a prototype was damaged during ground tests, and in September, Lockheed says it crashed on takeoff because of a glitch in flight-control software supplied by another company. Mr. Cappuccio, who believes such a drone could be developed within five to six years, isn't deterred. "Skunk Works is one place where you can fail successfully," he says. Lockheed is moving ahead without further Pentagon funding for now and aiming for a flight test in June. At the least, its continuing research could lead to advances in technologies for the skin of many types of aircraft.

        The Skunk Works has fresh Darpa backing for another curious drone, dubbed the Cormorant. It would be fired out of a submarine missile tube, unfurl itself and carry out surveillance or combat sorties over a range of about 500 miles. Upon return, the drone would ditch itself in the sea and be hauled in by a robotic arm on the sub. Lockheed, working with General Dynamics Corp., plans underwater trials to evaluate the launch and retrieval systems, as well as the structural impact of a splashdown. If the Cormorant is technically feasible, it could offer the Navy a cost-effective way to give submarines their own reconnaissance capability, Mr. Cappuccio says.

        Further off, he notes, is the Falcon, a conceptual drone bomber that would fly at Mach 9 near the edge of the atmosphere. In addition, the Skunk Works is currently assisting Northrop's development of a combat drone -- in part because Lockheed wants to keep up with emerging technologies in preparation for an expected competition for a new manned bomber. Mr. Cappuccio declines to comment on an Aviation Week & Space Technology report that the Skunk Works is designing a stealthy, long-endurance spy drone like one Darpa funded it to study in the 1990s.

        The Skunk Works' nascent openness clearly has its limits. But just because Mr. Cappuccio guards details of classified programs, doesn't mean that you can't find Skunk Works pencils, hats and shirts on sale at the onsite gift shop here or the group's skunk logo on drones in Iraq. Mr. Cappuccio endorses that kind of public awareness of what his 4,200-person unit does. "Twenty years ago, we could never say we worked here," he says. "This generation won't tolerate that."

        Write to Jonathan Karp at [email protected]

        http://online.wsj.com/public/article...html?mod=blogs
        A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

        Comment


        • #5
          How does it do as far as detection goes? Also does it remain undetected when floating under water?

          Comment


          • #6
            It sounds a great deal like the concept of turning boomers into SEAL delivery vehicles that has yielded little.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Franco Lolan
              It sounds a great deal like the concept of turning boomers into SEAL delivery vehicles that has yielded little.
              I thought it was common practice for subs to deploy special forces. Or were they thinking of getting rid of the missile part and using them exclusively as specialist transports?

              Comment


              • #8
                Hi Guys,

                Neat idea.

                I think that they are barking up the wrong tree by building a system with those recovery gymnastics built into it.

                IIRC, it is upon exfiltration where many special operations go awry. Bringing the bird back to the boat, submerging it and then brining it aboard might increase the odds of compromising the whole shebang as well as increasing the cost of the project on the whole.

                I would be inclined to look into a disposable or semi-disposable alternative.

                If recovery is neccessary, then have the thing fly to a specific location away from the boat, land, submerge and then drift on the currents awaiting recovery at another time and/or by other assets.

                Speaking of drifting on the currents, such a device might make a great first strike asset given the distribution of potential targets near coastlines.

                Cormorant type systems might be released far from their target areas, drift under the surface while tides or currents carry them close to thier targets and when their inertial navigation tells them too they power up, loft and then autonomously attack predetermined targets or engage in intelligence gathering.

                W.
                Pharoh was pimp but now he is dead. What are you going to do today?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Franco Lolan
                  It sounds a great deal like the concept of turning boomers into SEAL delivery vehicles that has yielded little.
                  Not exactly is has yielded the USS Jimmy Carter (designs) from its tests. ;)
                  And the Carter is out their somewhere presently
                  http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/...mmycarter.html
                  Last edited by Dreadnought; 01 Mar 06,, 18:39.
                  Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    My impression is that the SEAL delivery vehicles attached on subs for underwater insertion were extremely expensive and acoustically noisy underwater. I was referring to the idea of converting silos to space for seal insertion.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Franco Lolan
                      My impression is that the SEAL delivery vehicles attached on subs for underwater insertion were extremely expensive and acoustically noisy underwater. I was referring to the idea of converting silos to space for seal insertion.
                      Ahh gottcha. The Carter was built with this already in mind without conversion of silos. ;)
                      Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I didn't know that, thank you.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Franco Lolan
                          I didn't know that, thank you.
                          Your welcome A link Franco ;) www.chinfo.navy.mil
                          Last edited by Dreadnought; 08 Mar 06,, 20:48.
                          Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

                          Comment

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