Cormorant (Cormorant)
The famous design bureau Skunk Works is developing drone Cormorant, capable of launching from submarines, from a submerged position - directly from missile launchers.
Today, among the developments that are implemented by this division of Lockheed Martin, the Cormorant apparatus is of considerable interest, which in Russian means simply “cormorant”.
Cormorant is implemented using stealth technology and will be equipped with various weapons melee or reconnaissance equipment. However, the main difficulty is, after all, the launch from the missile mine. Their width (a little more than 2 m) is completely unsuitable for such an aircraft of traditional design. In addition, the device must be strong enough to withstand the pressure under 50 meters of water.
The solution, which they intend to implement in Skunk Works, is to create quite a decent size (4 tonnes weight) of the apparatus, whose wings fold to start and (not fully) extend in flight. Most likely, the fuselage will be made of titanium, able to withstand high pressure and corrosion, and the voids in it will be filled with plastic foam to give extra strength. When moving under water, some parts will be “pumped up” with pressure using compressed inert gas, while engine nozzles and other components will be closed with sliding hermetic covers.
The Cormorant will not "shoot out" in the manner of a rocket from the mine, but rather just float up. As soon as the drone is on the surface, its jet engines turn on - and it emerges directly from the water. Having completed its task, it will independently return to the meeting point with the submarine, and descend back to the sea surface, throwing out the cable. Then the submarine will release a small floating Robot, which will hook this cable and bring its end aboard. For this cable, the submarine will again pull the plane back. Mission Complete.
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