1. Background
As the global maritime security landscape becomes increasingly complex, there is a growing need for deep and seabed exploration. However, traditional unmanned underwater vehicles are limited by the power requirements of the propeller drive system and the limitation of battery capacity, which makes it difficult to achieve long-term and long-distance mission execution.
At present, there are two major trends in the development of unmanned underwater vehicles: large payload capacity and long cruising time, but due to the limitations of current technical capabilities, it is difficult to achieve both of them. Against this backdrop, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched the Manta Ray underwater autonomous drone project, which aims to break through technological bottlenecks and achieve new breakthroughs in deep-sea exploration.
Second, the main objectives and mission background
There are two main goals of the Manta Ray Autonomous UAV project:
(1) Open up a new design space for future unmanned underwater vehicles, which can not only perform long-term missions, but also have large payloads
(2) Promote key technologies such as the design and operation of relevant aspects of the Navy, such as new energy management, high-efficiency propulsion technology, and low-life-cycle cost operation of unmanned underwater vehicles;
Manta rays are designed to meet the diverse needs of the military and scientific research fields, and its main mission scenarios are: deep-sea reconnaissance, seabed resource exploration, marine environmental monitoring, etc.
Third, the project process
In the development of the Manta Ray underwater autonomous drone project, DARPA has adopted a phased approach.
Phase 1 focused on project proposals and preliminary design reviews, with multiple defense companies participating in this phase of the competition. After a rigorous selection process, four companies, Lockheed Martin (Advanced Technology Labs), Northrop Grumman, Nahuatek and Metron, stood out and entered the key technology demonstration and verification phase.
In Phase 2, Northrop Grumman and PacMar Technologies (formerly Navatek) were selected to test the subsystems and build a full-scale prototype of the unmanned underwater vehicle for in-water demonstrations.
At present, the project has entered the third phase, and the main task is to demonstrate and test the performance of the prototype of the manta ray unmanned underwater vehicle in the ocean environment.
After four years of research and development, Northrop Grumman has designed and manufactured a DARPA-compliant manta ray underwater autonomous drone, and recently successfully tested a prototype off the coast of Southern California. Subsequent tests by Northrop Grumman include propulsion system, steering system, buoyancy system, etc., and the relevant test results are successful.
In summary, DARPA's Manta Ray underwater autonomous drone project has brought new possibilities to the field of deep-sea exploration with its innovative design concept and cutting-edge technological exploration. By breaking through the technical bottleneck of traditional unmanned underwater vehicles, Manta rays not only achieve long-term and long-distance mission execution capabilities, but also have strong payload carrying capabilities, providing a broad space for future applications in military and scientific research fields. With the further development of the project, we have reason to believe that manta rays will become a bright star in the field of deep-sea exploration, leading a new era of human exploration of the ocean.