Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
'Cormorant' UAV Would Operate From Submerged Submarines
05/12/2005 09:38:33 AM
By Rich Tuttle
A new contract to Lockheed Martin marks the beginning of a Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency program to study the feasibility
of deploying an unmanned aerial vehicle from submarines, a DARPA
spokeswoman said.
The UAV, called Cormorant, after the sea bird, would "provide close
air support for vessels such as the Littoral Combat Ship and SSGN,"
a specialized version of the Trident ballistic missile submarine,
Jan Walker said. "This is the very first award ... this is the
beginning of the program," she said.
Its aim, she said, is to "explore concepts that launch from both
the sea surface and submarines."
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Palmdale, Calif., received a $4.2
million DARPA contract on May 9 to "conduct risk reduction
demonstrations and mature the Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
and related servicing and support system concepts," according to a
Defense Department announcement.
A Lockheed Martin Website says the MPUAV "is a sub-launched and
recoverable multi-purpose vehicle still in the concept development
phase." It said the UAV is seen as "an integral part of a
revolutionary network-centric system to extend the warfighting
capabilities of the new Trident SSGN submarine platform."
"With submerged launch and recovery operations," the site says,
"the MPUAV would enable renewable, organic air operations from
under the sea. The combination of the Trident with MPUAV systems
affords unique force deployment options to theater commanders
during pre-hostility phases of operations, as well as during actual
combat."
MPUAVs would be housed in the Trident's seven-foot-diameter
ballistic missile launch tubes, Lockheed Martin says. They would be
released from the submerged sub "and remain buoyant near the
water's surface until launch." They would then be "boosted out of
the water with two disposable, solid rocket engines derived from
the Tomahawk missile booster."
After conducting "a variety of missions," an MPUAV would return to
a retrieval point at sea, turn off its engine and splash down in
the ocean. It would be "recovered by the submerged Trident SSGN and
brought back on board to be refueled and reconfigured as necessary,
ready for its next mission."
Technical challenges of the Cormorant program, according to DARPA
budget materials, "include aircraft dynamics at the sea/air
interface, engine technology to survive periodic immersion in salt
water, and development of advanced composite materials to withstand
sea-surface operations."
"Pending the outcome of demonstration results," DARPA said,
"transition of the Cormorant UAV to the Navy is planned" in about
2010.
DARPA received $6.7 million for the program in fiscal year 2005 and
is requesting $9.6 million in FY '06.