14 DAY TRIAL // Looking like coming straight from a GI Joe comic or a James Bond movie, this secret drone seems to be what Boeing hopes will be the next step in surveillance and espionage hardware.
In a patent submitted by the aeronautic giant Boeing, the company underlines that the basic principle of this new flying contraption would be to fly/glide itself until it reaches heavily protected skies and then go underwater to supervise possible floating or submerged targets.
The design of the new drone shows that it should be launched aboard a large carrier aircraft and then shed its wings near its target area to enter the water for a wide range of available missions. This device could easily undertake resupply operations to submarines and other floating crafts besides undergoing spying operations.
After the underwater operation is completed, the flying/swimming drone can surface and start transmitting data back to headquarters. To remove its wings and stabilizer before entering the water, the device will use explosive bolts, or even a glue that might dissolve when in contact with salt water in order not to have important parts of the aircraft damaged by the explosions.
Apparently, the patent was filed by Boeing in April 2013 and was recently found by PatentYogi. The current status of the program is unknown. It's very likely that there is, or was, a government-funded project for amphibious drones in which large companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman submitted proposals in order to win the government contract for such a project. If only the Boeing patent has been discovered, it is very likely similar ones have been filed by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin as well, but they might currently be shrouded in complete secrecy.
