Captain Nemo is forced out of his job because of this gadget.
The US Navy has just tested a new self-driving, fish-shaped unmanned submarine that can hibernate on the ocean floor for “very long periods” without needing refueling, and then transport a wide range of payloads.
Dubbed the Manta Ray for its sleek design, the autonomous underwater vessel was built by Northrop Grumman as part of a Navy project to develop underwater drones for long-range missions. According to the Telegraph.
The ship, which has an all-white, sleek appearance, can anchor on the ocean floor and hibernate in a low-power mode, the newspaper said.
And it “uses efficient, buoyancy-based gliding to move through the water,” said Dr. Kyle Warner, Manta program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. said the agency in a news release.
“Our successful full-scale Manta testing validates that the vehicle is ready to move forward towards real-world operations,” Warner added. “The ship is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a variety of naval mission sets.”
The Navy spent three months testing the ship 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 report said.
Russia is also developing its own underwater drones and last year announced plans to acquire nearly 30 such aircraft, the Telegraph reported.
Russia claims the drone is equipped with a nuclear warhead and can reach speeds of 100 knots, or about 115 miles per hour.
According to a report in the Telegraph, the mini-submarine is said to have a range of about 6,200 miles.
Ukraine is also developing underwater vehicles for use in combating Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and Britain and Australia are also developing similar ships.
