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By Denise Hammick The US Defence Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded contracts to Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics Electric Boat to create and demonstrate a high-speed underwater express vehicle. It will be designed with the aim of carrying out high-speed littoral missions using supercavitation technology, testing the feasibility of the technology to transport high-value cargo and/or small units of personnel. The concept has been used before by Russia to develop the Shkval short-range, anti-submarine torpedoes in the 1980s, which could reach around 200 kt. The notional US vehicle aims to operate covertly - if surface and acoustic signatures can be reduced enough - and manage speed while avoiding surface wave 'slamming' injuries. Proposal documents seen by Jane's suggest that the demonstrator vehicle will improve upon the Shkval with a movable, retractable cavitator on its nose cone. 135 of 513 words © 2006 Jane's Information Group [End of non-subscriber extract] Customers with a paid subscription to Jane’s Navy International can access the full article here If you would like to subscribe, please see our products section for more information and pricing on Navy International |
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