Raytheon to Launch UAV from Submarine

[unhappycamper]

Raytheon to Launch UAV from Submarine
Aviation Week's DTI | Graham Warwick | October 28, 2008

Raytheon plans to launch a small unmanned air vehicle from a submerged U.S. Navy submarine early next year to demonstrate its concept for extending the boat's sensor range in littoral operations.

Last month the company demonstrated its UAV launch concept under Phase 1 of the Submarine Over the Horizon Organic Capabilities (Sothoc) program funded by the Office of Naval Research and the Submarine Force.

The concept uses a submarine launch vehicle (SLV) containing the electrically powered UAV and stored on board as an all-up round. Ejected from the submerged submarine's trash disposal unit, the SLV is weighted to descend to a safe distance from the boat, then shed the weight and inflate a float collar.

The collar is pulsed to control the rate of ascent. As it approaches the surface, the SLV deploys a water drogue to provide stabilization and a vane to align it into the wind. The tube then pivots to a 35-degree angle and ejects the UAV.

"The SLV is a method of getting a UAS to the surface dry, then transitioning it to the air," says Jeffrey Zerbe, Raytheon's Sothoc program director.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,178183,00.html?wh=wh

[Sirveri]

1. Sounds both dumb and smart.

The TDU is fairly quiet, and is a huge opening in the boat (not as big as a torepedo tube or VLS if I remember right though), but wouldn't it be easier to simply store one in the onboard VLS and launch it like a cruise missle? They look like they're similar in size for the to be feasible. Also wouldn't the sub be required to maintain contact via probably the HDR mast(which I've seen break on several occasions). I see the benefit provided by using a sub as a launch platform, but the strongest defense a sub has is stealth, and this compromises that. Though in current campaigns against countries with little to no ASW capabilities this doesn't matter as much. However in such situations those countries also tend to have less naval presence in general, meaning a conventional surface navy would likely be able to close the gap to launch UAV's.