Hmm...
More info here: Manta Ray | Northrop Grumman
The weirder part of this is I spotted this thing in Google Earth docked in Oxnard Naval Base near me (likely where the above was shot), a little while back while just randomly looking around. I did post it here, and someone figured it out.
BTW it's primary way of moving is to glide down in the water using it's wing shape, then blow ballast to get back near the surface, then glide again. Quite creative and utterly silent (very important submarine wise). Blowing the ballast of course would need to be done carefully.
Unmanned? Quiet, but to what end? Research, Recon, study whales?
In reply to 914Driver :
Endless possibilities. Plop them outside China's and Russia's SSBN ports; depending on what kind of speed it can manage, they could even follow them out into their patrol areas. ELINT in littoral areas. Monitoring shipping by acoustic signature (especially useful for those rogue tankers and cargo ships that Russia, Iran, and North Korea like to use). High precision seabed mapping. Delivery of clandestine monitoring equipment into controlled waters. Undersea cable network and pipeline monitoring. The list goes on. With a ULF, two-way communication is entirely possible, opening up all sorts of additional options.
Plenty of scientific uses as well, of course, but this looks to be primarily a military project.
914Driver said:Unmanned? Quiet, but to what end? Research, Recon, study whales?
Ahh yes, Northrup Grumman, world famous for producing research and whale studying machinery 
JG Pasterjak said:914Driver said:Unmanned? Quiet, but to what end? Research, Recon, study whales?
Ahh yes, Northrup Grumman, world famous for producing research and whale studying machinery
Ok. That made me laugh.
This is the coolest USPS truck ever.
Wait, is that a different Grumman?
In reply to iansane :
They also make canoes.
And campers. They made a lot of aluminum planes in WWII (most of the US Navy planes). They were good at I working with aluminum, so they branched out a bit after the war.
It seems really counterprodutive to share this much info about a stealthy intel gathering machine unless it's already served it's purpose, or they're just trying to send some sort of message.
STM317 said:It seems really counterprodutive to share this much info about a stealthy intel gathering machine unless it's already served it's purpose, or they're just trying to send some sort of message.
It's pretty routine to flex capabilities. Foreign press releases and parades are full of useful information. The "secret sauce" is really in the details and the "hows". For example, you'll often see pictures of subs with covers over their propellers; we all know it has a propeller but we cannot see what geometry they're using to get it silent. Unless you know where this machine will be and when and why, knowing that it simply exists isn't much use.
In reply to cyow5 :
Maybe for general use stuff. But things that support clandestine action, or special forces tend to be kept hush-hush.
Nobody even knew there were stealth helicopters in use until things went wrong during the Bin Laden raid in 2011. And they're still not showing any pics or videos of them, or theorizing how they might be used.
There are 10ft long drones flying around military bases in the northeast US that nobody can even properly photograph or identify, and the gov just shrugs.
But Northrop Gruman willingly releases info about their super expensive, super sneaky new toy on Youtube?
STM317 said:In reply to cyow5 :
Maybe for general use stuff. But things that support clandestine action, or special forces tend to be kept hush-hush.
Nobody even knew there were stealth helicopters in use until things went wrong during the Bin Laden raid in 2011. And they're still not showing any pics or videos of them, or theorizing how they might be used.
There are 10ft long drones flying around military bases in the northeast US that nobody can even properly photograph or identify, and the gov just shrugs.
But Northrop Gruman willingly releases info about their super expensive, super sneaky new toy on Youtube?
You can slap a blanket over a submarine propeller to conceal its stealth design, but, when you do that on a helicopter, you've covered the whole thing with a blanket.
I don't see how the existence of the Manta Ray shows any of our cards. Unmanned underwater vehicles have long been in existence, and they've shown nothing but one with a funny shape. Even the diving motion has been in recreational dolphin 'boats' or whatever they are called.
JG Pasterjak said:914Driver said:Unmanned? Quiet, but to what end? Research, Recon, study whales?
Ahh yes, Northrup Grumman, world famous for producing research and whale studying machinery
"What exactly do you do in these things?"
"Sir, the Navy calls it 'Oceanographic Research.' " McCafferty led him forward, turning for a smile with his answer to the awkward question.
Things were starting quickly for
Chicago. The Navy wanted to see just how effective her new quieting systems were.
Everything looked good in the acoustical test range off the Bahamas. Now they wanted to
see how well things worked in the Barents Sea.
The Mayor laughed at that one. "Oh, I suppose you'll be counting the whales for Greenpeace!"
"Well, I can say that there are whales where we're heading."
02Pilot said:In reply to 914Driver :
ELINT in littoral areas.
The world has got to come up with a different word for this.
In reply to dean1484 :
Me too. Sometimes I crack myself up.
Duke said:02Pilot said:In reply to 914Driver :
ELINT in littoral areas.
The world has got to come up with a different word for this.
Are you worried the Navy won't be able to find any?
P3PPY said:JG Pasterjak said:914Driver said:Unmanned? Quiet, but to what end? Research, Recon, study whales?
Ahh yes, Northrup Grumman, world famous for producing research and whale studying machinery
"What exactly do you do in these things?"
"Sir, the Navy calls it 'Oceanographic Research.' " McCafferty led him forward, turning for a smile with his answer to the awkward question.Things were starting quickly for
Chicago. The Navy wanted to see just how effective her new quieting systems were.
Everything looked good in the acoustical test range off the Bahamas. Now they wanted to
see how well things worked in the Barents Sea.
The Mayor laughed at that one. "Oh, I suppose you'll be counting the whales for Greenpeace!"
"Well, I can say that there are whales where we're heading."
Is this the ship?
Looks a bit bigger than the prototype.
Then they painted it yellow and launched it from a submarine...
914Driver said:Unmanned? Quiet, but to what end? Research, Recon, study whales?
Tracking SSNs with guys in the mess deck playing "Echoes" by Pink Floyd? 
And you wondered why the sonar girls were pissed...
Sorry snowdoggie, but there is only one OG yellow flying saucer submarine and her name is Denise.
Grumman did go in another direction once.
Then there were these:
Also:
As a Long Islander you learn a lot about the company most of your family worked for growing up.
My Favorite?
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