 |
Underwater Express - High Speed Troop-Carrying Torpedo
The Underwater Express, a kind of troop-carrying torpedo, is under development by our friends at DARPA. We've all tried swimming as fast as we can underwater - but would you believe 115 miles per hour?
To reach such amazing speeds, the vehicle would need to make use of supercavitation. A bubble of gas is generated around an object, reducing drag and making high speed underwater possible.
The concept has been around for several years, but it surfaced again at DARPATech 2007, held in Anaheim, CA, a few weeks ago.
I can't really call it an sf prediction, but there is an interesting precursor (implementation?) of this idea in the Konami Computer Entertainment game Metal Gear Solid. In the game, a retired soldier infiltrates a nuclear weapons disposal facility to neutralize a terrorist threat.
Check out the one-man SDV (swimmer delivery vehicle), which is a kind of individual Underwater Express.
(Metal Gear Solid SDV [swimmer delivery vehicle])
One can only hope that the Underwater Express will have this cool red-lit interior.
(Interior of SDV from Metal Gear Solid)
Via US plans troop-carrying torpedoes; read more about Metal Gear Solid. Thanks to CyberStrike for both halves of the story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/5/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Vehicle ")
RF Safe-Stop Shuts Cars Off
'...a police control-override.'- Keith Laumer, 1965.
Honda's Tumblebug - The UNI-CUB beta
'A tumblebug does not give a man dignity…'- Robert Heinlein, 1940.
Robert Heinlein, Your Personal Electric Helicopter Will Be Ready In 2016
"They were half way home when a single flyer, hopping free in a copter harness, approached the little parade."- Robert Heinlein, 1954.
Electronic License Plates For California By Smart Plate Mobile
Another science fiction prediction come to life!
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Haute Cuisine On International Space Station
'The gas gave sufficient heat for the culinary apparatus...'
Tongue Mouse Created By Valve Engineer
'He pressed hard with his tongue against his right upper first molar.'
K5 Autonomous Data Machine The Future Of Mall Security
''Halt!' A robot guard appeared...'
RF Safe-Stop Shuts Cars Off
'...a police control-override.'
Army's New Bird-Like Surveillance UAV
'The prototype blue-bellied, gray-backed tracer-bird with the wide-angle eye...'
Honda's Tumblebug - The UNI-CUB beta
'A tumblebug does not give a man dignity...'
NASA's LADEE Enters Lunar Orbit
'... dust normally on the surface picks up and keeps a charge.'
3D Printing An Entire Car
"... Almost as good as the original it was printed from."
Aldebaran Robot Talks Like C3PO - Almost
'See Vee Threepio - Vee for versatility - at your service...'
Google's Skin Tattoo Lie Detector
'Three and a half centimetres in diameter, permanently fixed in the centre of his forehead.'
inFORM Dynamic Shape Output Device
Like that pushpin device you remember, but supercharged.
Owlet Vitals, The Future Of Baby Monitoring
'In every diaper there is a fine copper wire...'
Robert Heinlein, Your Personal Electric Helicopter Will Be Ready In 2016
"They were half way home when a single flyer, hopping free in a copter harness, approached the little parade."
WildCat Runs Faster Than You, Untethered
'...moving with such drifting ease that it was like a single solid cloud of black-grey smoke blown at him in silence.' Almost.
HiBot's ACM-R5H Robot Video Shows Graceful Terminator-Style Swimming
'No! No! Aaaaaaarrrrrrgh!'
tDCS Jumpstarts Your Future
'We invented a scanner that can change the labyrinthine neural connections of the brain by tiny electronic impulses...'.
