Science & Technology

US Navy to stash drones under the sea

By T.K. Randall
January 18, 2013 ·  11 comments

Image Credit: Rubén Laguna The main purpose of storing drones at the bottom of the sea is to make it possible to deploy them to remote parts of the world where it would be otherwise too difficult or expensive to set up a forward operating area. The drones would be stored within special pressure containers and would simply float to the surface when needed. The Pentagon has been quick to emphasize that the drones would not be equipped with any weapons but would instead be used for reconnaissance purposes.

"Depending on the specific payload, the systems would provide a range of non-lethal but useful capabilities such as situational awareness, disruption, deception, networking, rescue, or any other mission that benefits from being pre-distributed and hidden," DARPA stated in a press release.[!gad]The main purpose of storing drones at the bottom of the sea is to make it possible to deploy them to remote parts of the world where it would be otherwise too difficult or expensive to set up a forward operating area. The drones would be stored within special pressure containers and would simply float to the surface when needed. The Pentagon has been quick to emphasize that the drones would not be equipped with any weapons but would instead be used for reconnaissance purposes.

"Depending on the specific payload, the systems would provide a range of non-lethal but useful capabilities such as situational awareness, disruption, deception, networking, rescue, or any other mission that benefits from being pre-distributed and hidden," DARPA stated in a press release.

Source: NBC News | Comments (11)

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