Lockheed Martin Cormorant
The Cormorant was a military project of the Skunk Works research department of Lockheed Martin to build a combat drone (official name: Cormorant - Multi Purpose Unmanned Air System , German for example: Kormoran - unmanned multi-purpose aircraft ; the name giving cormorant is a species of diving bird) . The range should be approx. 800 km. The project was discontinued in 2008 for budgetary reasons.
development
After the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, military strategists realized that surgical warfare was more important than the use of nuclear weapons . Against this background, the large US nuclear submarines no longer seemed of as great strategic importance as before. For example, the US Navy can deploy 24 Trident ICBMs on an Ohio-class submarine . The launch tubes for the Trident are each 13.4 m long and have a diameter of 2.1 m. In response to this shift in focus in armament requirements, the Skunk Works developed the idea of shooting down a specially constructed drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle called the Cormorant, from the launch tubes for the Trident . The name comes from the English name for the bird cormorant, which dives upside down into the water.
construction
As long as the drone is in the launch tube, the wings are folded around the central body of the drone. While the Cormorant is in the water and surfacing, the wings are unfolded and preparations are made for take-off to leave the water. The penetration of the water surface and the lifting out of the water are carried out with the help of rockets.
An ordinary airplane would not be able to withstand the pressure that exists at the depth of 46 m (150 ft), the take-off depth. In order to prevent corrosion by the aggressive sea water, the cormorant should be made of titanium . The cavities should be filled with plastic foam so that they remain dimensionally stable and are not compressed due to the high water pressure. In order to protect the drone even better against the high water pressure, the interior of the drone should be filled with an inert gas that is under high pressure. In order to seal the Cormorant watertight, inflatable seals are used for doors and flaps.
camouflage
In principle, the most important means of defense for submarines is the ability to hide under water. The launch of an aircraft from on board the submarine or, after a mission has been completed, the direct return of an aircraft on board the submarine would reveal its position. Therefore, the submarine from which the cormorant starts will move away from the starting position while the cormorant emerges to the surface of the water. After the mission, the submarine sends Rendevouz coordinates to the cormorant. The cormorant lands at the agreed position on the water and is then retrieved by a retrieval robot or gripper arm and brought to the submarine.
Technical problems
Special technical challenges arise from the following aspects of the project:
- Recovery of the landed drone and re-docking with the submerged submarine,
- Structural strength and waterproofness of the drone in diving depth and on the water surface,
- Aircraft dynamics at the transition water / air,
- Durability of the engines despite repeated immersion in salt water,
- Use of resistant composite materials,
- Quick start of the engine.
financing
The DARPA funded the testing of models and some system components of the Cormorants. The tests should be completed in September 2006. Once the tests are complete, DARPA should decide whether to fund an airworthy prototype.
Web links
- The Navy's Swimming Spy Plane ( popular science article )
- Cormorant UAV Would Operate From Submerged Submarines Aviation Week, May 12, 2005
- MPUAV: The Cormorant Story
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lockheed Martin Today October 2009 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 4 (PDF; 1.4 MB, 8 pages, accessed December 17, 2009)
- ↑ Navy Launches Slightly Less Cool Drone from Submarine spectrum.ieee.org, accessed May 14, 2016
