Cormorant UAV for Navy - is it a bird is it a plane ?????

A submarine launched missile carrying unmanned plane ... step over Dick Tracy, Lockheed Martin famous for U-2 and Blackbird spy planes has a new plane that starts flight underwater - toys for the boys in blue now.

The Cormorant, is stealthy, jet-powered, and "could" be outfitted with either short-range weapons or surveillance equipment - it is (will be?) launched from, Trident missile tubes in some of the U.S. Navy’s gigantic Cold War–era Ohio-class submarines. The subs are redundant now ( The one's the US Navy have run by the Royal Navy don't even have targets - that's official) their now-vacant tubes could provide another unmanned option for spying on or destroying targets near the coast.

Lockheed's Skunk Works’s have designed a four-ton airplane (that's nearly two Hummer Cs's) with gull wings that hinge around its body to fit inside the missile tube. Made from titanium to resist corrosion, empty spaces are filled with plastic foam to resist crushing. The rest of the body is pressurized with inert gas. Inflatable seals keep the weapon-bay doors, engine inlet and exhaust covers watertight.

An arm-like docking “saddle” guides the craft out, sending the Cormorant floating to the surface. As the drone pops out of the water, the rocket boosters fire and the Cormorant takes off. After completing its mission, the plane flies to the rendezvous coordinates it receives from the sub and lands in the sea. The sub then launches a robotic underwater vehicle to fetch the floating drone.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is funding tests of some of the Cormorant’s unique systems, including a splashdown model and an underwater-recovery vehicle. The tests should be completed by September (200?), after which DARPA will decide whether it will fund a flying prototype.

For more pics to goggle at while you take time off from playing Thunder Zoom Armageddon Baby III go here Pic is Empty Williams famous Dick Tracy villain, maybe Condi caught him om in the White House washroom ?

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