INTELLIGENCE: US Navy Developing Underwater Drones

Riddle Switched Jul 2009 US Navy Developing Underwater Drones

by Warren Riddle on July 31, 2009 at 07:15 AM

http://www.switched.com/2009/07/31/us-navy-developing-underwater-drones/

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During World War II, amphibious vehicles played a key role in battles throughout every theater of war (most famously the D-Day landings), revolutionizing modern military tactics. In the ongoing shift toward a military that is more dependent on technology and surveillance than sheer human numbers, the Navy has revealed that it is currently developing the futuristic (and awesomely intimidating) offspring of those original landing crafts.

The US already employs a variety of unmanned drones, from surveillance crafts to flying harbingers of death that can actually engage the enemy, but all are dispatched from land or landing surfaces. According to Neatorama, the new drone, appropriately named Sea Stalker, would be a "torpedo-sized underwater robot that specializes in snooping on radio signals and other communications," that would be released from submerged submarines.

The Navy also has plans to empower the Scan Eagle aerial drone, which is currently launched from a ship's deck, not only with weapons, but also with the ability to be shot from a submarine's payload tube. Having demonstrated that similar drones can be successfully operated by teenage gamers (giving hope to uncoordinated geeks everywhere), the military seems increasingly closer to the day when humans can actually be victorious in battle without ever having to physically step foot on a battlefield. [From: Neatorama]