Submersible Aircraft

[juiceclark]

Originally Posted by ancient kayaker

The first thoughts that occured to me were:

Engine to be non-air breathing
Thin wing profiles, maybe lifting fuselage
Fuel tanks to be floodable (usual internal bag arrangement of course)
Floodable fuselage with wet-suited pilot

However, one caveat: the award ceiling is a little low, $0

No ceiling on any project means lots and lotsa money.

I'd surmise they'd like a craft that could fly Navy Seals fairly close to shore from a large ship way offshore. The remaining mile or so to the beach could be reached via scuba while their flying thingy could submerge so the enemy couldn't find and destroy their transportation back to the ship while they're onshore.

[ancient kayaker]

That's the closest explanation so far but I would have thought a submersible surface effect craft would be more practical for that kind of mission; fast, decent payload, under much of the radar, existing technology. Of course, I have a good 50% of my thinking capacity intact never having been a part of the military, so it has to make sense to me.

I think your right that the plane part is the important bit and the submersible part is subordinate. The mission is limited by what a bad aircraft can do but they want to do it fast. So far we have shallow depths, short mission, limited support, and of course hostile shore. Keep 'em coming!

Wonder if a different approach would work on this. A plane drops a small automatic submersible "taxi" offshore, the troops take a 'chute trip down and the plane goes back to Momma while the sub does a preprogrammed run-away-and-hide. After the troops do their dirty work they call up the taxi. The return trip is slow but your job's done. The 'plane can also run a support or diversion mission. An unmanned sub can be dropped by 'chute, self-deploy and report status before the troops are committed.

That's assuming there is an actual use for this thing and we have figured it out. This is much more fun than designing real boats.

Another damn afterthought: there's nothing about a pilot or a manned requirement in the announcement.

[kach22i]

Maybe somebody was just thinking it's about time that the old TV series Voyage to the "Bottom of the Sea" came about.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/sl_seaview.htm


http://members.fortunecity.com/jpayne/Planes4.html


http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Voyage-Sea/6628


http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=227692


http://flickr.com/photos/15675500@N00/2092896067


Then there is this:
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002029.html

A while back, I briefly mentioned the Cormorant, Darpa's idea for a sub-launched flying drone. Reader DS points us to the agency's quick write-up of the 19-foot "multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicle," or MPUAV.

[Loveofsea]

here you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLYqYIldZdI

[juiceclark]

Here you go again....made the same way too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RrOT...eature=related

Back to reality...I'd love one of these WASPs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJARrc40imk

[rasorinc]

Re: sub/plane I wonder what the Skunk Works told them. If they are not involved then there must be a good reason. They do not only work on Air Force projects. Just a thought.

[corrupt]

how do you know its been planned for this planet, might seem a mental thought but they really have been looking at europa and thats just a light atmospere with ice and water for a planet basically, i know what your thinking, he's been on the sea water AGAIN haha