The Naval Research Lab just launched a drone from a submerged submarine – giving a huge edge to the future of special operations.
It took six years to develop and launch an all-electric, fuel cell-powered, folding-wing drone aircraft from a submerged submarine. The eXperimental Fuel Cell Unmanned Aerial System, or XFC UAS, was fired from the submarine’s torpedo tube using a “Sea Robin” launch system, which is designed to fit within an empty Tomahawk launch canister used for launching Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The XFC UAS uses an electrically assisted take-off system which lifts the plane vertically out of its container. Once deployed from the submarine, the Sea Robin launch vehicle rose to the ocean surface where it appeared as a spar buoy. The drone then vertically launched and flew a “successful several hour mission demonstrating live video capabilities streamed back to Providence [R.I.], surface support vessels and Norfolk [Va.]” before landing at the Naval Sea Systems Command Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center in the Bahamas.