The [US] Navy's new spy drone swims like a tuna

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http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/tech/2014/12/19/navy-underwater-spy-drone-ghost-swimmer/20600951/

The Navy's new spy drone swims like a tuna

It's a tuna. It's a shark! No, it's the Navy's latest underwater drone.

As unmanned technology develops, the Navy is looking at ways to keep sailors out of harm's way by sending in remotely operated vehicles, rather than small boats or divers to assess situations.

The Silent NEMO project, from the chief of naval operations' Rapid Innovation Cell, test swam one of these unmanned underwater vehicles off Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia, on December 11, according to a Navy release.

What you should know about the "GhostSwimmer."

1. It's tuna-sized. Though it's been billed as a "robot shark" by some media outlets, the GhostSwimmer is actually modeled off of a tuna. At 5-feet-long and 100 pounds, it can dive up to 300 feet.

2. Swims like a fish. The GhostSwimmer uses biomimicry to make its movements as realistic as possible to save energy and conceal itself.

To develop Ghost Swimmer, the Navy teamed up Boston Engineering, a product development company.

"It swims just like a fish does by oscillating its tail fin back and forth," said Michael Rufo, the director of Boston Engineering's Advanced Systems Group, in the Dec.12 release.

"The unit is a combination of unmanned systems engineering and unique propulsion and control capabilities," he said.

3. A one-fish recon team. During the recent tests at JEB Little Creek-Fort Story, the GhostSwimmer gathered data on tides, currents, wakes and weather conditions -- the sort of oceanographic information commonly gathered by meterologists and submariners for use in finding -- or concealing -- subs. There's potential for more advanced tasks in the future as well.

"GhostSwimmer will allow the Navy to have success during more types of missions while keeping divers and sailors safe," Rufo said.

4. It's versatile A long-lasting battery allows GhostSwimmer to operate for hours underwater via remote control, but a 500-foot tether gives sailors the option to control it from a laptop.

The tether can transmit information in real time, but if it's operating remotely, it has to surface periodically to download data.

5. The CO is an O-3 Marine Capt. Jerome Lademan is Silent NEMO's project lead. An infantry officer, he's one of several junior officers assigned to CRIC and tasked with developing in-house technology that will benefit the Navy.

"Our mantra is 'You have permission to be creative.' We want our people to go out there and dream big dreams and put them into action," said Capt. Jim Loper, head of concepts and innovation at the Navy Warfare Development Command, CRIC's parent command. "We want to see projects like this replicated throughout the fleet. The fusion of the deckplate brainpower with support of the most senior leadership in the Navy is going to keep us moving forward throughout the 21st century."

http://youtu.be/aDEtOlvfIcg