The U.S. Naval Research has designed a prototype for an unmanned underwater glider with a flying-wing design to keep track of unfathomable oceans.
The Flying Wing Underwater Glider can travel thousands of miles under ocean waves and is the fastest of its kind.
Thomas Franklin Swean Jr., team leader for Ocean Engineering and Marine Systems Science and Technology at the Office of Naval Research said:
“Gliders have the potential of providing long-endurance mobile platforms for employing sensors”. The endurance is measured in months rather than hours or days.”The winged glider scores over other similar torpedo shaped gliders designed by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the University of Washington School of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution with its B-2 stealth bomber type design and 10 times more speed i.e. close to 5 nautical mph.
The Flying Wing Underwater Glider has a 20-foot wingspan and is best suited for underwater surveillance.
Via: wired
