In a nutshell: DARPA’s Manta Ray program is designed to develop a brand new technology of autonomous drones able to working underwater. The drone has lastly been constructed after roughly 4 years, and Northrop Grumman lately examined the prototype off the coast of Southern California.
Beneath the Manta Ray program, US analysis company DARPA aimed to develop a totally new class of uncrewed underwater automobiles (UUVs), drawing inspiration from the huge “winged” fish of the identical title. Northrop Grumman, considered one of three contractors chosen by DARPA, has now remodeled the UUV idea into actuality and lately examined its major capabilities.
Initially, Northrop Grumman confronted competitors from Martin Protection Group and Metron, however the latter withdrew from the undertaking in 2021. Based on the official Manta Ray program web site, the UUV drone has been designed to undertake long-duration, long-range missions in oceanic environments inaccessible to people.
The finished Manta Ray drone encompasses all of the important options outlined in DARPA’s authentic imaginative and prescient, together with the power to hold payloads for numerous missions. Manta Ray operates autonomously with out human intervention or on-site logistics and might anchor itself to the seafloor earlier than coming into an energy-saving, low-power working mode.
The Manta Ray drone is modular and could be shipped in 5 completely different “commonplace” containers for meeting wherever on this planet. After a number of years of labor on the undertaking, Northrop Grumman lastly assembled the Manta Ray prototype up to now few months. Now, the navy contractor has introduced that the UUV has handed its first in-water check.
The prototype was submerged in February and March 2024, with particular assessments carried out to evaluate its at-sea hydrodynamic efficiency. Northrop Grumman engineers operated the UUV utilizing all supported modes of propulsion and steering, together with buoyancy, propellers, and management surfaces. The check was deemed profitable.
The completion of the full-scale Manta Ray testing section confirms that the brand new underwater car is sort of prepared for real-world navy operations, said Kyle Woerner, the DARPA program supervisor for Manta Ray. The US Division of Protection, aiming to realize “strategic shock” in underwater situations, will now search engagement with the US Navy for a second testing section.
