The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has released a broad agency announcement for a five-year unmanned submersible project, Military and Aerospace Engineering reported Tuesday.
John Keller’s post indicated the submersible will function as a mothership that can launch unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles undetected.
The report said DARPA has set an Oct. 22 deadline for industry proposals.
The delivery system will operate under the Hydra program intended to develop an undersea network of drones able to provide military intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and mine countermeasures support.
According to the BAA, the submersible should be able to transport the undersea payloads covertly behind enemy lines, power up the drones, deploy them without surfacing and communicate collected intelligence to command control.
As for the aerial vehicles, the “payload will be ejected from the mothership, float to the surface, launch, fly a minimum range, and conduct several different types of missions.”
