The Sea Ferret is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle developed by Northtrop Grumman. It is launched by US submarines for take-off. It was designed to perform reconnaissance missions.
History[]
Development of the Sea Ferret begun in 1991. The first test of the UAV took place in 1996, while the Sea Ferret was launched by the USS Asheville, in reality the drone was monted on a Cessna 206. But the Sea Ferret was controlled by the diving submarine. Later it was controlled by a United States Marine Corps team, and after that by a simulated group of RAH-66 Comanche. The UAV delivered target information of a power station, a Surface to air missile launcher and a Radar station.
The current status of the program is unknown.
Technology[]
The Sea Ferret has a weight of 145 pound and a length of 1.90 m. It has a maximum speed of 300 knots and a minimum flight speed of 80 knots. The drone has a range of 370 nmi and a maximum flight endurance of two hours.
The Sea Ferret is launched by diving US submarines, which controll the UAV and use it for reconnaissance.
The Sea Ferret is equipped with multiple sensors and cameras, that can be used in all weather conditions. Armament is only secondary, but it is still possible to equip it with a 20 pound warhead.