Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works has revealed further details of its morphing unmanned air vehicle (UAV) development programme, including one that can be launched from a Trident submarine.
The morphing UAVs will have the capability to change from the traditional UAV shape - 'loiter' mode - to attack mode in a matter of seconds. Shape memory elastomers will change the wing configuration in flight, giving the UAV 'hunter killer' capability.
The Trident-launched UAV is being developed in conjunction with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the central research and development organisation of the US Department of Defense.
Utilities
Frank Cappuccio, vice-president and general manager of Skunk Works, says: "We realised that there were a lot of utilities on decommissioned Trident submarines, including four silos, and asked ourselves: 'What if we could project a presence without nuclear weapons?'"
The Skunk Works team concluded that "it may not be that hard to do", although the robotic retrieval of the vehicle proved an engineering challenge.
Testing of the underwater recovery system is expected to take place in 6-9 months.
The mobility of targets means there is a drive to create an aircraft with dual reconnaissance and attack capability.
Cappuccio believes that it is the advances in sensor technology that will make morphing UAVs a viable proposition. "It will be 5-6 years before the morphing UAVs are operational. By then we will have been through approximately three more generations of sensors," he says.
Source: Flight Daily News
