- The satellite image currently remains visible to the public.
- The ship is docked at the Port Hueneme Naval Base, California.
A top-secret American underwater unmanned weapon called the ‘Manta Ray’ was spotted by hawk-eyed online users on Google Earth on Sunday and remains visible to the public.
Satellite images showing the ship docked at the Port Hueneme Naval Base in California went viral on Sunday, before some social media users said the satellite images were removed and replaced with what people believed were ships. edited.
However, as is satellite images of the ship can be seen on Google Earth.
The drone, named after the sea creature because of its diamond-shaped body and wing-like fins, is used for underwater threat detection and was designed by Northrop Grumman Corporation.
The aerospace group has described the drone as an “extra-large glider that will operate long-endurance, long-range, payload-capable underwater missions without the need for on-site human logistics.”
The futuristic-looking top-secret ship was clearly visible on both Google Maps and Google Earth.
The ship is docked at the Port Hueneme Naval Base in California.
Manta Ray prototype completes full-scale testing off the coast of Southern California. Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype is designed for long-duration underwater missions
Manufacturer Northrop Grumman says it completed large-scale testing off the coast of Southern California in February and March. Manta Ray was built through the US Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program.
It has an extended range, long-term deployment and diverse payload capacity.
Northrop Grumman also claims that, thanks to its modular design, it can be disassembled and transported in standard shipping containers.
In the event of an urgent threat, the vessel would reportedly deploy faster than traditional submersibles.
Until recently, its pioneering design, which allows it to remain submerged for long periods of time, had been kept secret.
But when the underwater craft was launched into the sea for testing and captured on Google Earth over the weekend, internet users quickly spotted the top-secret US drone weapon.
Last week, Northrop Grumman revealed more details about its ‘Manta Ray’ robotic submersible in some newly released videos.
Additionally, last month, Northrop Grumman announced that it had completed large-scale water testing off the coast of Southern California in February and March of this year.
According to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the tests showed “hydrodynamic performance at sea, including submerged operations using all vehicle propulsion and steering modes: buoyancy, propellers and control surfaces.”
In them, the images show a tour of the first test dive and a summary of never-before-seen clips from the project.
The ‘Manta Ray’ is part of a US Navy project to develop a new class of underwater drones capable of carrying out much longer missions.
With the underwater vehicle undergoing recent testing, questions have been raised about the emergence of advanced marine drones in the reshaping of naval combat, as Ukrainian forces have been using smaller, more affordable technology to sink Russian ships.