Flying Submarine

Cormorant

ushakov

A flying submarine or submersible aircraft is a craft able both to fly or travel under water. The Soviet Union made an unsuccessful attempt at developing a flying submarine during World War II. In 1961 American engineer, Donald Reid designed and built a single-seat craft (32.83 ft length) capable of flight and underwater movement, the Reid Flying Submarine 1 (RSF-1). The first full-cycle flight [underwater at 6.5 feet (2 m) depth, airborne at 33 ft (10 m) altitude] was demonstrated on 9 June 1964.

The US Navy is looking at the Lockheed Martin Cormorant, a drone aircraft launched from a submarine. On launching it floats to the surface and after flight it is retrieved from the water surface; it cannot travel directly underwater. In 2008, DARPA announced that it was preparing to issue contracts for a submersible aircraft.

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