Hollywood
films often show alien ships or giant monsters rising from the ocean depths to
threaten humanity's existence. The U.S. military envisions a more realistic
scenario of hiding robotic drones, sensors or decoys on the ocean floor so that
they can rise to the occasion when needed.
The idea of
hiding sneaky spy technologies beneath the waves comes from the U.S. Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency. The agency described its Upward Falling
Payloads program as an effort to hide underwater capsules that could be
triggered remotely to activate, float to the surface and release their payloads
of sensor buoys or even flying drones.
"The concealment
of the sea also provides opportunity to surprise maritime targets from below,
while its vastness provides opportunity to simultaneously operate across great
distances," DARPA said in a broad agency announcement on Jan.
11.
Earth's oceans
provide plenty of hiding places for robots to engage in some "cheap stealth" --
about 50 percent of the oceans reach depths deeper than 2.5 miles. DARPA's ideal
payload would fit within a spherical capsule 17 inches in diameter or a cylinder
about 5 inches in diameter and 36 inches in length.
The idea of
deploying robots from beneath the waves has some precedent, given how the Navy
has tested the launch of flying drones from a submarine's trash chute. By
comparison, the Upwards Falling Payloads effort faces the additional challenges
of ensuring robotic technologies can hibernate for years under deep-ocean
pressure and still obey instantly when the order comes down to
activate.
DARPA emphasized
that the new program is "specifically not a weapons program" and would have
"non-lethal" intent. "But other countries may have a different opinion on the
definition of "non-lethal" for robots or drones deployed to carry out
surveillance or jam communications."
The new program
highlights the U.S. Navy's turn to a growing swarm of robotic ships and flying
drones that can supplement traditional warships and aircraft. Recent experiments
have included firing missiles from robot boats, deploying drone helicopters such
as the MQ-8 Fire Scout to help track pirates or smugglers, and testing the X-47
robot warplane from the deck of an aircraft carrier.
DARPA has also
funded development of larger robot ships, such as a submarine hunter called the
Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel, which can stay out at
sea for up to 90 days. CBS News
The Obama
administration has aggressively employed a fleet of drone aircraft to kill what
Washington considers “suspected militants” in other countries, namely Pakistan,
Yemen and Afghanistan. In 2008, after
Barack Obama won the presidency in the U.S., the drone strikes escalated and
soon began occurring almost weekly, later nearly daily, and so became a
permanent feature of life for those living in the tribal borderlands of northern
Pakistan. The United
States carried out more drone strikes last year in Afghanistan than it has
during its eight-year-long air war in Pakistan, launching 447 strikes and
killing thousands. RT AFP reported
that new Pentagon plans would heighten the U.S. reliance on drones in
Afghanistan. The U.S. has
carried out dozens of assassination drone attacks in Yemen, which is located on
the tip of the Arabian Peninsula and among the poorest in the region. Figures
compiled by a recent Washington think tank show a drastic increase in the number
of secret U.S. drone attacks in Yemen. AP
ARA/HJ
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