US Trials Innovative New Manta Ray Underwater Drone

The US has recently finished testing a new underwater drone at the bottom of the ocean. This drone, named the Manta Ray, is made by Northrop Grumman, a US aviation company. It’s part of a project by the US Navy to make better underwater drones that can conduct longer missions.

The Manta Ray is built to move in the ocean for extended periods without anyone controlling it or needing to add more fuel.

Dr. Kyle Woerner, who manages the Manta Ray program at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), explained that once the vehicle is in the water, it glides efficiently using buoyancy to move around.

Some experts who study defense think that the US Navy wants to make a drone that can stay in the ocean for a long time to search for submarines from Russia and China.

Dr. Woerner also mentioned that the craft is made with different-sized compartments to carry equipment needed for naval missions.

‘Hibernating’ in low-power mode

Northrop Grumman says the drone can also anchor itself on the ocean floor and go into a low-power mode, like hibernating.

They made it so it’s easy to take it to different places quickly for missions. The testing occurred off the coast of southern California for the last three months.

… The Manta Ray autonomous underwater drone. Developed by @northropgrumman for DARPA.

And probably the inspiration. pic.twitter.com/wa9U8WqENN

— Patrick Oyulu (@OyuluPatrick) May 2, 2024

Other countries are also working on making better underwater drones, not just the United States. Last year in January, the Russian navy outlined intentions to procure 30 Poseidon drones. These drones look like torpedoes and Russia says they can reach high speeds of up to 100 knots.

Russian sources also say these drones have a nuclear engine that allows them to reach 6,200 miles without stopping. Moreover, some sources say that they can even carry a nuclear bomb, as reported by The Telegraph.

Russia and Ukraine race to unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs)

Ukraine is also making progress in the manufacture of underwater crafts, called unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), to fight against Russia’s fleet in the Black Sea.

They even showed a video of a test where their underwater drone, named Marichka, successfully worked. But unlike the Manta Ray, both the Russian and Ukrainian drones are armed with weapons.

Another similar drone is Australia’s Ghost Shark. it is a large underwater drone that Australia intends to use until they can acquire crewed, nuclear-powered submarines from the Aukus defense pact with Britain and the US.

The UK is working on similar projects of its own. In 2022, Ben Wallace shared a plan for the Royal Navy to procure a new robot submarine in two years.