A full-scale prototype of Northrop Grumman's first Manta Ray
According to the information released by the "Power Website" Theater column on April 8, 2024, Northrop Grumman has completed the construction of the first full-scale prototype of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle, and at the same time, the company also released full-scale prototype pictures of the unmanned underwater vehicle, and announced that it plans to carry out underwater testing work on the prototype of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle this year.
Rendering of Northrop Grumman's Manta Ray
The Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle (MANTA) is a new unmanned underwater vehicle led by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to demonstrate the technology of a new generation of unmanned underwater vehicles with large payloads and ultra-long endurance. It is reported that the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle project will mainly achieve two goals, one is to promote the development of a new generation of key technologies for naval unmanned underwater vehicles, such as energy management for underwater long endurance, low-cost operation, continuous navigation empowerment and low emission pollution, and the other is to open up new design ideas for the research and development of new unmanned underwater vehicles with large loads and ultra-long endurance in the future.
Renderings of the concept design of the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle with four propellers released early by Northrop Grumman
On May 13, 2019, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) held a proposal day for the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle (URO) project, and on that day, the project was briefed on the project's information and provided guidance on the project's solutions and the approximate scope of work.
In 2020, the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle project entered the first phase. During this phase, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency conducts a 7-month (optional) critical design review and an 11-month preliminary design review of the proposed company.
On March 10 of the same year, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency selected Lockheed Martin (Advanced Technology Laboratory), Northrop Grumman, Nahuatek and Metron to demonstrate and verify the key technologies of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle project.
In 2021, the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle project entered the second phase. At this stage, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency selected Northrop Grumman and PacMar Technologies (formerly Nahuatek) to test the relevant subsystems of the Manta Ray project, and at the same time, they were required to build a full-scale prototype of the Manta Ray UAV and conduct related technology demonstrations in the water.
A scaled-down prototype of the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle manufactured by PacMar Technologies
At present, the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle project is still in the second phase, and according to the plans of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the third phase of the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle project will begin after the second phase ends. In the third phase of the future "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle project, the performance demonstration and testing of the prototype of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle will be mainly carried out in the ocean environment.
Northrop Grumman has demonstrated high underwater maneuverability in its renderings of the Manta Ray
Because the current "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle is still in the state of development, and the plan of which company to choose has not been finalized, therefore, the specific performance of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle is still unknown, however, combined with the information previously released by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle that will be equipped with the US military in the future will have at least the following characteristics:
1. Excellent underwater maneuverability and maneuverability, and automatic obstacle avoidance ability;
2. A new generation of power and propulsion systems with high efficiency, low energy consumption, low emissions and the application of new underwater energy acquisition technologies can perform tasks or underwater standby in the combat sea area for a long time;
3. Modular design, according to the needs of different tasks, equipped with a variety of different types of equipment;
4. Apply new materials that can delay the corrosion and aging of the hull to improve the durability of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle;
5. Use existing and future new means of maritime communication to improve the interconnection between the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle and other combat platforms;
6. Use new on-board equipment to achieve high situational awareness of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle;
7. Based on the existing or emerging modeling and simulation environmental conditions, realize the interface data visualization of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle;
8. Apply an open system architecture to the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle, and integrate functions such as autonomous decision-making and path planning and low-energy detection;
9. Use new navigation technology to enhance the autonomous operation and navigation capabilities of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle.
10. Standard containers can be used for transportation, with efficient and fast deployment capabilities;
11. It has the ability of manned/unmanned cooperative operations.
The full-scale prototype of the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle built by Northrop Grumman today is equipped with two propellers
Specifically, the prototype of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle designed by Northrop Grumman and PacMar Technologies, which are currently in the second phase of the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle project, have many different characteristics between them. Among them, the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle designed by Northrop Grumman is designed with bionic technology, which resembles a giant manta ray, is equipped with two propellers, and uses a device called "Infinite Mission UUV Station", which combines the thermal energy pod of Seatrec, which has the ability of marine thermal gradient power generation, and the self-insulating wet electrical connector of Northrop Grumman, so that the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle has a near-infinite range. At the same time, Northrop Grumman's "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle can also use its miniature data storage device "data bubble" to automatically send all kinds of information to satellites or corresponding motherships through the "unlimited mission UUV station" device, so as to further improve its autonomous operation capability. However, at present, the "Infinite Mission UUV Station" device is only a conceptual design, and there is still a certain distance from real practical application. In addition, Northrop Grumman has not yet announced what kind of platform its "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle will be deployed or recycled, but according to the company, the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle and supporting equipment designed by it can be quickly transported and deployed around the world through five standard containers after dismantling.
Footage of the scaled-down prototype of the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle designed by PacMar Technologies during underwater testing
As for the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle designed by PacMar Technologies, it is relatively conservative in design, which adopts the rectangular hull design commonly used by most unmanned underwater vehicles, and the front end of the hull is equipped with a pair of longitudinal movable rudder surfaces arranged in a symmetrical arrangement, and the tail of the hull is arranged with a pair of fixed tails. At present, the Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle designed by PacMar Technologies has undergone an underwater test of a scaled-size prototype prototype in September last year.
Once the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle matures and is mass-produced in the future, it is expected to improve the user's combat effectiveness at sea
At present, the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle project is being carried out in an orderly manner according to the plan, and according to the information disclosed so far, the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle is mainly characterized by stronger autonomous operation, longer endurance and better multitasking ability compared with most of the unmanned underwater vehicles currently in service, and at the same time, it is also easier to control, deploy and maintain. Therefore, once the "Manta Ray" unmanned underwater vehicle can be mass-produced in the future and form a combat capability, it is bound to effectively improve the user's maritime combat effectiveness.