DARPA Announces Successful In-Water Testing Of Manta Ray UUV
A second Manta Ray performer, PacMar Technologies, is continuing testing of its full-scale energy harvesting system in 2024.
CALIFORNIA - The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced that it carried out successful in-water testing of the Manta Ray Unmanned (Uncrewed) Underwater Vehicle (UUV) during February and March 2024.
The testing of the Manta Ray was carried out in California after the prototype's subsections were transported to the test location from its original build location in Maryland.
According to DARPA, the "Testing demonstrated at-sea hydrodynamic performance, including submerged operations using all the vehicle’s modes of propulsion and steering: buoyancy, propellers, and control surfaces".
The DARPA program manager for the Manta Ray Dr. Kyle Woerner said of the test, "Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing validates the vehicle’s readiness to advance toward real-world operations after being rapidly assembled in the field from modular subsections".
He added, “The combination of cross-country modular transportation, in-field assembly, and subsequent deployment demonstrates a first-of-kind capability for an extra-large UUV".
“Shipping the vehicle directly to its intended area of operation conserves energy that the vehicle would otherwise expend during transit,” Woerner said.
“Once deployed, the vehicle uses efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water. The craft is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a wide variety of naval mission sets.”
DARPA says that the Manta Ray aims to "develop and demonstrate a new class of long-duration, long-range, payload-capable UUVs ready for persistent operations in dynamic maritime environments".
"DARPA is engaging with the U.S. Navy on the next steps for testing and transition of this technology."
It added, "A second Manta Ray performer, PacMar Technologies, is continuing testing of its full-scale energy harvesting system in 2024".
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