Chinese scientists develop flying unmanned submarine
- Propeller-driven drone has civilian and military applications, including inspecting underwater mines
- This type of vessel is one of the cheapest and most effective methods for taking down the defence system of an air carrier fleet, according to researcher
A research team from eastern China say they have built and tested a prototype submarine drone that can fly in the air at high speed.
Driven by four propellers, including a pair at the front that tilt, the drone can approach an underwater target slowly and linger in one area for a long time, they said.
Two large wings that fold over its back can extend when the drone reaches the surface of the water, allowing it to fly at a speed of 120km/h (74.6mph), about twice as fast as an ordinary drone powered by rotor blades.
The drone “consumes little energy when cruising in fixed-wing mode, so it can perform some fast, long-range missions in the air”, said professor Ang Haisong, lead project scientist with the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in a paper published in the peer-reviewed Unmanned Systems Technology in June.
A researcher studying similar technology at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, Shaanxi province, said China was developing numerous types of “transmedia vessels” that could travel in both air and water.