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Manta Ray - A long range glider. What the USN has been up to.
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www.telegraph.co.uk
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The United States has completed the first full-scale test at sea of a futuristic underwater drone able to hibernate on the seabed.
The Manta Ray prototype, produced by US aviation giant Northrop Grumman, is part of a US navy project to develop a new class of underwater drone capable of carrying out much longer missions.
The autonomous craft, which dwarfed the small boat it was pictured with, has been designed to move through the ocean “for very long periods of time” without supervision or the need to refuel.
“Once deployed, the vehicle uses efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water,” said Dr Kyle Woerner, Manta Ray programme manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known by its acronym, Darpa.
Defence analysts have speculated that the US navy wants to develop a drone capable of long missions to scour the seas for Russian and Chinese submarines.
“The craft is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a wide variety of naval mission sets,” said Dr Woerner.
The craft is also capable of anchoring itself on the sea floor and “hibernating” in a low-power mode, according to Northrop Grumman.
It has also been designed to be easily transported around the world for rapid deployment.
The testing took place off the coast of southern California over the past three months.
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Pictured: US tests futuristic new Manta Ray underwater drone
Prototype autonomous craft is able to hibernate on the sea bed and move through the ocean unsupervised for ‘very long periods of time’
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