The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking into developing a rather interesting new unmanned systems project which might usher in an age where undersea motherships could be capable of launching smaller submarines as well as flying vehicles. The whole idea behind this Hydra Project, specially named after the legendary Greek creature that will grow two heads in its place each time you cut one off, is to help the military conduct pop-up surveillance on pirates, terrorists and hijackers.
The Hydra Project might be the ideal method to deliver low cost response to quickly changing situations, especially when it happens on or near the water’s surface. In this day and age, not many of us have an idea on how piracy has evolved, and the US requires a flexible, rapid, and stealthy response which will be able to place sensors in the right place at the shortest time possible. The Hydra Project intends to meet this challenge, where the sensors will be housed beneath a number of hidden shelters within unmanned submarines and aircraft. When required, these unmanned vehicles will be called into action to launch such sensors into place. Sounds like one of those probing droids that we saw in Star Wars, no? It sounds like a good idea theoretically, and here’s hoping it will jive and be realized in the real world. [Press Release]
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