I spotted this on google maps (yes, I randomly scan satellite photos of interesting areas for fun). It is floating in full view of commercial satellites at the Navy base at Port Hueneme CA. Port Heuneme is primarily the base for a See Bee Bee (mobile Naval construction) battalion from what I can tell. Of note is that Point Magu is right next to it, and they seem to primarily do electronic warfare testing. Some things of note:
- Clearly in full view, so not super secret(!)
- Note size (see truck above it)
- It's clearly floating
- Very much a wing shape, but also swept, which implies higher, maybe near near trans-sonic.
- No obvious evidence of air intakes(?)
- Two mast like structures (note shadows) center and tail (those could certainly be for testing purposes of course)
- Does not appear to be a ground effect plane (sea skimming), wing is wrong.
- What would be the use of a rather large (for a weapon) or small (for a plane), high speed amphibious plane? Some sort of covert, sneak under the radar covert ops insertion device?
- Might even be a test vehicle, that did not work, and they leave it out to confuse snoopers (it's working)
OK, what do you think... alien answers will be ridiculed... 
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1536906,-119.2087223,49m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu
must be "Spy" something , as clicking the link does not show it anymore :)
You can see the little bridge and even the orange towel these guys are standing on in your satellite picture above:
In reply to PMRacing :
Ding, ding. Yes definitely it!
I am still curious about the wings. Why would you want wings (at least that large) on an underwater drone? The most efficient shape is clearly the sub shape. Maybe to provide more roll stability? Needs to be very wide for another reason? Curious.
That's some devious E36 M3 right there, and I'm glad we have that.
The shape apparently has to do with generating hydrodynamic "lift" in order to maximize propulsion efficiency and thus increase endurance. A couple links:
DARPA
Northrop-Grumman
Prototype flying sub? I know it is not this. I just want it to be this.
Wow, I don't remember the mini sub being yellow.
Always raises more questions for me. If this is the stuff we're "allowed" to see, what are they not showing us? Wild stuff out there.
If y'all are interested in my special tinfoil hat design, I'll snail mail you coded plans to make you're own.
Maybe the wing design is based on a manta ray.
02Pilot said:
The shape apparently has to do with generating hydrodynamic "lift" in order to maximize propulsion efficiency and thus increase endurance. A couple links:
DARPA
Northrop-Grumman
I was about to say "it's an airplane company, they made what they know". But as you said, I would also suspect it would have some level of sonar detection reduction as well.
In reply to 02Pilot :
Yeah, still not sure I am seeing it. Lift in the water is buoyancy and that is easily done by displacing water (ballast tanks). I could see it maybe if they are trying to lift something off the bottom that is beyond the displacement capability of the sub, but that still seems a bit strange (and it would have to keep moving on the surface, or sink).
It does appear to have propellers on the fins, so it might just be a way to get the propellors offset as much as possible to give as much differential power steering and control. Of course there are well developed omni-direction engines out there...
It would be good against sonar, from the side, but horrible from the top or bottom.
If anyone is wondering why you would want a remote vehicle that just sits on the bottom of the ocean for a long time... there are cables that run along the bottom of the ocean... cables that carry data... there are also sometimes oil and gas pipelines (shhhhhhh)....
We have done it before (data encryption likely makes this much less useful now):
Despite these obstacles, the potential for an intelligence coup was considered too great to ignore, and in October 1971, the United States sent the purpose-modified submarine USS Halibut deep into the Sea of Okhotsk. Funds for the project were diverted secretly from the deep-submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV) program, and the modified submarines were shown with fake DSRV simulators attached to them. These were early diver lockouts. US Navy Divers working from Halibut found the cable in 400 feet (120 m) of water and installed a 20-foot (6.1 m) long device, which wrapped around the cable without piercing its casing and recorded all communications made over it. The large recording device was designed to detach if the cable was raised for repair.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivy_Bells
In reply to aircooled :
It's not just about lift, a manta ray glides underwater just like a sailplane or hang glider would in the air, from my understanding that's what they're trying to do with this, so I suppose that would involve setting the bouyancy negative with ballast and then using the wings to glide.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
Yeah, OK, I could see that then. Essentially a sinking "glide" for propulsion. You could theoretically travel by only using ballast (you still need to use power to pump it of course). The advantage of this is of course, ENTIRELY quiet. Quiet is a very big thing in the sub arena!
GameboyRMH said:
In reply to aircooled :
It's not just about lift, a manta ray glides underwater just like a sailplane or hang glider would in the air, from my understanding that's what they're trying to do with this, so I suppose that would involve setting the bouyancy negative with ballast and then using the wings to glide.
Pump a small amount of water into the ballast tanks and become negatively buoyant, use the wings to glide forward as you sink, silently. Then pump the water out and become slightly positively buoyant, and glide forward as you rise. Because you can control your own buyoancy you can create your own "lift" and get nearly free, but slow, and silent, propulsion.
It definitely looks like a manta ray. I'm sure that the engineers didn't design it to look like a manta ray, but it makes sense that it would. Certain shapes move most efficiently through fluids.
Duke
MegaDork
5/6/24 4:55 p.m.
aircooled said:
In reply to 02Pilot :
Yeah, still not sure I am seeing it. Lift in the water is buoyancy and that is easily done by displacing water (ballast tanks).
Give it slightly negative buoyancy, turn off the propulsion, and glide in a shallow dive with almost no mechanical sound.
Depending on how deep you were willing to let it go, you could travel almost silently for quite a distance from your last known sonar position (when propulsion was running) to the point where it came to rest at its target waiting position.
Anybody remember Bachman Miniplanes?
Little solid plastic 1/160th scale airplanes, typically about 3 inches long. We used to "fly" those underwater. A decently aerodynamic design would travel the full length of a typical backyard pool, even with a freewheeling propellor. Jets did even better.
Hoppps
Reader
5/6/24 7:07 p.m.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
It definitely looks like a manta ray. I'm sure that the engineers didn't design it to look like a manta ray, but it makes sense that it would. Certain shapes move most efficiently through fluids.
Both the B2 and the Manta Ray are built by Northrop too, so they have plenty of experience why that shape I'd guess
also of note regarding the shape - the b2 had one of the longest flights in combat in operation enduring freedom, so whoever commented earlier about it being able to coast for a long time is probably on to something
“Once deployed, the vehicle uses efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water."
It seems to me that it would be a lot more efficient if they could figure out how to make the wings flap for propulsion like a real Manta Ray.
