As reported by the American web resourceSеapower , Executive Director of the program on submarines of naval forces of the USA rear Admiral Dave Goggins, speaking on 18 November 2020 webinar annual Symposium of the naval submarine League, said that the U.S. Navy has developed and tested a submarine-launched unmanned aircraft system Submarine-Launched Unmanned Aerial System (SLUAS), for solving tasks of intelligence and targeting out of line of sight, and deployed it on ships since September 2020.
American nuclear-powered multi-purpose submarine SSN 760 Annapolis of the Los Angeles type, which tested the submarine-Launched Unmanned Aerial System (SLUAS) launched from submarines. San Diego, 31.08.2020 (C) SunDiegoLive.com
Rear Admiral Goggins said in a webinar that SLUAS is "just an amazing opportunity for the Navy." Goggins said the project was launched in may 2019, and three demonstration tests were conducted in 2019-2020. Initial operational readiness (IOC) was achieved in September 2020.
Eight months after the project began, the US Navy conducted a demonstration of SLUAS at sea from the Los Angeles-class SSN 760 Annapolis nuclear multi-purpose submarine, launching these devices "from periscope depth and controlling them to tactically significant distances-far beyond the horizon," Goggins said. - "So the boat was able to receive target information and to conduct a simulation of the fast torpedo attack on a participating surface ship, in this case Charleston [LCS 18 the type of Independence], almost almost the maximum effective range of the torpedo using this blah BLAH to develop solutions and define the starting point, after receiving preliminary data from the sonar station."
Another demonstration was held against a surface ship and a ground object. To date, 21 SLUAS UAVS have been involved in the demonstrations. The defense Innovation Unit, which has worked with non-core industry companies to reduce costs and expand capabilities, completed the last SLUAS test flights in July.
"I have five SLUAS - equipped submarines in my fleet today, and we will continue to implement this capability," Goggins said. "We are really working on developing this potential for the future."
Bmpd comment. The characteristics and appearance of the SLUAS UAV are unknown, as is its "non-core" parent developer and manufacturer.
In 2016, the US Navy signed a contract with AeroVironment to purchase its proposed Blackwing UAVS for deployment on submarines. However, there was no information about the development of this program, and, apparently, now we are talking about a different system.
In addition, on November 3, 2020, the US Navy issued a request for information to the industry to create another SLUAS system - a miniature UAV capable of launching from submarines from a standard 3-inch (76.2 mm) signal system Ejector (SSE) device for launching signal missiles. Such a device must be in the air for at least an hour, have a range within the radio horizon and have a secure data transmission channel.