A top-secret prototype of a US military unmanned submarine called the Manta Ray has been spotted by Google Maps users and remains available for viewing. Satellite photos show the ship, which looks like a sci-fi starship, moored at the Port Washington Naval Base in California, its futuristic shape hard to miss in the location.
The autonomous vessel was named after a marine creature because of its similarity in shape and ability to stay deep underwater while operating in low power mode. Manta Ray, created by Northrop Grumman as part of the of the US Navy project a long-range underwater weapon development program, is a sophisticated underwater drone capable of staying awake on the seabed for extremely long periods of time without refueling. It uses «effective gliding» underwater
«Our successful full-scale test of the Manta Ray confirms that the vehicle is ready to operate in real-world conditions. … The ship is designed with multiple payload bays of different sizes and types to enable a variety of naval missions,» Dr. Kyle Werner, Manta Ray program manager at DARPA, wrote in a press release.
The modular design allows the Manta Ray to be disassembled and transported in conventional containers, without additional port facilities. The US Navy has been testing the ship off the coast of Southern California for more than three months. Analysts suspect that the Navy’s attempts to develop underwater drones are aimed at strategically countering the submarine operations of Russia and China.
Source: New York Post
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