Defense technology company, Northrop Grumman, has announced that it is working on a submersible drone to explore the depths of the ocean, and it’s called the ‘Manta Ray’.
A quick look at this unique concept craft will leave you in no doubt as to why they’ve called it that.
Yep – it looks just like the creature that it is named after.
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The aerospace and defense technology experts showed off their new baby – built in collaboration with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – on Instagram, explaining the method to their mission.
It’s a slightly strange quirk of the world we live in that we’d find out about a project like this on social media, but we’re glad to know nonetheless.
In their post, Northrop Grumman wrote about how their new underwater vehicle will ‘operate long-duration, long-range missions in ocean environments, going where humans can’t.’
That tallies with some of their other projects too, like this one for a train on the moon.
To outline their stated aim of ‘mastering the deep’, the arms company shared a short video about the new submarine.
The blurb for that video read: “Northrop Grumman has been pioneering new capabilities in the undersea domain for more than 50 years.
“Manta Ray, a new unmanned underwater vehicle, taking its name from the massive ‘winged’ fish, will need to be able to operate on long-duration, long-range missions in ocean environments without need for on-site human logistics support – a unique but important mission needed to address the complex nature of undersea warfare.”
Let’s hope we don’t need to think about any serious underwater warfare any time soon, eh?
However, if that does happen, you can bet that Northrop Grumman will be ready for it.
The company is well known in the industry, having won awards for work on space projects such as the James Webb Space Telescope.
They also build military aircraft, with the B-21 Raider and B-2 Spirit – the world’s only stealth bomber – part of their stable.
That means that this underwater project has to be taken very seriously because these guys really know what they’re doing.
As for a time frame, we have no idea when the Manta Ray will take to the waters, and it’s likely that we won’t be told even when it does.
Still, it’s an interesting project, right?
