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| David E. Powell... |
 Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:19 am |
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With the whole Harrier thread, I was thinking that the whole idea of a
submersible plane, even if doable, is out - planes move so quick in
the air, a submersible capability would be far too much price to pay
for a very limited capability.
However, a submersible UAV has promise!
Don't want to put too much out there where certain people could see it
on this, but there are ideas that come to mind. |
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| Jack Linthicum... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:14 am |
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On Oct 30, 5:08 pm, Juergen Nieveler
<juergen.nieveler.nos... at (no spam) arcor.de> wrote:
[quote]"David E. Powell" <David_Powell3... at (no spam) msn.com> wrote:
With the whole Harrier thread, I was thinking that the whole idea of a
submersible plane, even if doable, is out - planes move so quick in
the air, a submersible capability would be far too much price to pay
for a very limited capability.
Don't tell DARPA... they recently put out an offer for just such a
beast.
Juergen Nieveler
--
"That's a chapter, the last chapter of the 20th, 20th, the 21st century
that most of us would rather forget. The last chapter of the 20th century..
This is the first chapter of the 21st century." George W. Bush
[/quote]
Went by their home office the other day. They still have three
Arlington police cars protecting 20 empty parking spaces so no
terrorist will blow them up. One very large car was parked in the lone
occupied spot. |
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| Juergen Nieveler... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 3:08 pm |
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"David E. Powell" <David_Powell3006 at (no spam) msn.com> wrote:
[quote]With the whole Harrier thread, I was thinking that the whole idea of a
submersible plane, even if doable, is out - planes move so quick in
the air, a submersible capability would be far too much price to pay
for a very limited capability.
[/quote]
Don't tell DARPA... they recently put out an offer for just such a
beast.
Juergen Nieveler
--
"That's a chapter, the last chapter of the 20th, 20th, the 21st century
that most of us would rather forget. The last chapter of the 20th century.
This is the first chapter of the 21st century." George W. Bush |
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| Juergen Nieveler... |
| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:24 am |
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Jack Linthicum <jacklinthicum at (no spam) earthlink.net> wrote:
[quote]Went by their home office the other day. They still have three
Arlington police cars protecting 20 empty parking spaces so no
terrorist will blow them up. One very large car was parked in the lone
occupied spot.
[/quote]
Sssssssh! Those parking spaces aren't empty - that's the parking lot of
the "invisible spy car" project team.
Juergen Nieveler
--
SNMP = Security? Not My Problem! |
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| ... |
| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 5:16 pm |
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| Jack Linthicum... |
| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 5:49 am |
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On Oct 30, 3:19 pm, "David E. Powell" <David_Powell3... at (no spam) msn.com>
wrote:
[quote]With the whole Harrier thread, I was thinking that the whole idea of a
submersible plane, even if doable, is out - planes move so quick in
the air, a submersible capability would be far too much price to pay
for a very limited capability.
However, a submersible UAV has promise!
Don't want to put too much out there where certain people could see it
on this, but there are ideas that come to mind.
[/quote]
Strange is as strange does, lots of pics at citation
http://www.popsci.com/node/3747
The Navy's Swimming Spy Plane
It floats, it flies, it eliminates enemy targets-meet the water-
launched unmanned enforcer
By Bill Sweetman Posted 02.21.2006 at 3:00 am 0 Comments
by John MacNeill John MacNeill
View Photo Gallery
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 Warâ
€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.
Fowcette one seems a bit less scary
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10057877-52.html |
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| Richard Casady... |
| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:21 am |
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On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:19:42 -0700 (PDT), "David E. Powell"
<David_Powell3006 at (no spam) msn.com> wrote:
[quote]With the whole Harrier thread, I was thinking that the whole idea of a
submersible plane, even if doable, is out - planes move so quick in
the air, a submersible capability would be far too much price to pay
for a very limited capability.
However, a submersible UAV has promise!
Don't want to put too much out there where certain people could see it
on this, but there are ideas that come to mind.
[/quote]
It has been fifty years since I read about the flying submarine in
Popular Mechanics. It was built on a shoestring by one guy, in his
garage. I understand it eventually drowned the inventor, but it
actually worked.
There has been more than one torpedo bearing missile or rocket. The US
had rocket versions, and I seem to remember an airbreathing torpedo
carrier by the Israelis.
Casady |
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| Keith Willshaw... |
| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:55 am |
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"Richard Casady" <richardcasady at (no spam) earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:4af087dd.607763983 at (no spam) news.east.earthlink.net...
[quote]On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:19:42 -0700 (PDT), "David E. Powell"
David_Powell3006 at (no spam) msn.com> wrote:
With the whole Harrier thread, I was thinking that the whole idea of a
submersible plane, even if doable, is out - planes move so quick in
the air, a submersible capability would be far too much price to pay
for a very limited capability.
However, a submersible UAV has promise!
Don't want to put too much out there where certain people could see it
on this, but there are ideas that come to mind.
It has been fifty years since I read about the flying submarine in
Popular Mechanics. It was built on a shoestring by one guy, in his
garage. I understand it eventually drowned the inventor, but it
actually worked.
There has been more than one torpedo bearing missile or rocket. The US
had rocket versions, and I seem to remember an airbreathing torpedo
carrier by the Israelis.
[/quote]
The Australian built Ikara system was a small rocket powered airplane
that carried a guided torpedo. It was fitted to a number of Leander
class frigates in the RN IRC
Keith |
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