Sea Ferret

The Sea Ferret is a tracing of Northrop Grumman Drone to be used primarily for reconnaissance. The start is from a submerged submarine. The name literally means lake Ferret, mutatis mutandis, he is likely to be an allusion to ferret planning a designation for reconnaissance aircraft.

History

The development of the Sea Ferret began in 1991. The first test of the drone in December 1996. Here, a launch from the submarine USS Asheville ( SSN -758 ) was simulated, where the drone was mounted in reality under a Cessna 206. The vehicle running at periscope depth submarine then sent control commands to the drone, who received it and confirmed. Later, the control was handed over to a team from the United States Marine Corps, then to a group of simulated Boeing - Sikorsky RAH -66 Comanche. The drone provided target data from a power plant, an anti-aircraft missile battery and a radar station in the submarine.

The current status of the program is unknown.

Technology

The drone is 75 inches (about 1.90 meters ) long and weighs 145 pounds. The Sea Ferret can reach speeds of about 300 knots, the Minimalgeschwindigkleit for search flight is 80 knots. The range is 370 nautical miles, the drone can stay up to two hours in the target area.

The launch of the Sea Ferret is from a submerged submarine, which can also take control and get data supplied from the target area in real time. The start is from a container to be started from the otherwise anti-ship missiles AGM -84 Harpoon.

There are several sensors such as cameras, which can be used in bad weather on board. Armament is of secondary importance, it is possible to carry a warhead of 20 pounds.