AeroVironment’s “Blackwing” drone. (AeroVironment California)
AeroVironment’s Blackwing UAVs
The U.S. Navy intends to buy up to 120 of AeroVironment’s Blackwing Drones to serve as the eyes and ears of submarines, greatly increasing strike range and keeping submarines away from enemy defensive weapons or sensors.
According to the “global flight” (FlightGlobal) network reported on the 10th, the U.S. Navy posted online information shows that the first drone is expected to be delivered as early as August this year, while the last one is scheduled for delivery in May 2023. The “Blackwing” drone can be launched from a submerged submarine ship, in order to fit in the tube, this small drone has a pop-up wing, it has a wingspan of 68.6 centimeters, by electric propulsion propeller fast forward. And the nose has photoelectric and infrared sensors.
In addition, it has a global positioning system (GPS) and inertial navigation system. “Blackwing uses sensors and a tactical data chain to transmit target intelligence back to the submarine.
In fact, the U.S. Navy has been testing Blackwing for a number of years. David Goggins, executive officer of the submarine program, said earlier that after several validations in 2019 and 2020, Blackwing was declared initially operational last September. He noted that the U.S. Navy has already test-fired from the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Annapolis (SSN-760).
Gauguin said the U.S. Navy tried operating well beyond visual range to target and quickly launch a simulated torpedo attack on the USS Charleston, a coastal combat ship participating in the exercise, to test the maximum effective range.
The use of drones to search for and lock onto targets will help keep the submarine away from enemy forces and avoid detection and attack. Although Airland did not reveal the range of the Blackwing, it was based on the 10-km range of the Switchblade 300, a small drone, so it can be roughly estimated.
As previously reported by Forbes.com, new submarine-launched anti-ship torpedoes like the MK48 Mod6 AT are limited by the detection range of their sensors. Official figures show that the Mk48 has a range of more than 5 miles (about 8 kilometers), while unofficial figures show that it is believed to have a range of more than about more than 30 miles (about 48 kilometers).
The problem, however, is that submarines have difficulty detecting, identifying and tracking targets while submerged. Nowadays, submarines no longer use periscopes to avoid giving away their movements, but rely on sonar to detect targets in order to launch attacks. However, to accurately detect the target, the submarine has to sail to only a few miles away from the enemy ship.
The “Blackwing” solved all these problems by shooting a 3-inch (nearly 8 centimeters) tube, normally used to emit noise from underwater to create a decoy, to the surface and then deploying the wing to take off. Because it is equipped with day and night cameras, and can easily confirm the target’s position, location and speed, it can transmit information back to the submarine to launch torpedoes for precision strikes.
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