Mechanical manta ray
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pacific, the United States is also working on an underwater project. America's newest UUV is Northrop Grumman's Manta Ray. The prototype was tested off the coast of Southern California in February and March.
The Defense Advanced Research Products Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon's department responsible for developing new technologies, says the Manta Ray's strength lies in its modularity and its ability to change payload sections depending on the mission. The marine drone also fits into five standard shipping containers.
DARPA is currently in discussions with the US Navy about next steps for testing and moving forward with this technology. Meanwhile, China, identified by the US military, is also making progress in the field of unmanned vehicles. Although we know very little about that at the moment. Submarine expert HI Sutton says on his website Covert Shores that according to an analysis of open source intelligence, Beijing reportedly has at least six very large UUVs in development.
In addition to Australia, the United States and China, other countries are also working on unmanned vehicles, including Canada, France, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, Sutton said.
(Images: www.northropgrumman.com, Australian Maritime Institute)
