BAE T-600 drone makes history by dropping a torpedo

[dimsum]

It looks like a large Quadcopter but it is the size of a compact car

BAE T-600 drone makes history by dropping a torpedo in a world-first - Interesting Engineering

Jointly developed by BAE Systems and Malloy Aeronautics, a T-600 heavy lift drone has been used to carry and deploy an anti-submarine torpedo for the first time.

interestingengineering.com

 

[Kirkhill]

It looks like a large Quadcopter but it is the size of a compact car

BAE T-600 drone makes history by dropping a torpedo in a world-first - Interesting Engineering

Jointly developed by BAE Systems and Malloy Aeronautics, a T-600 heavy lift drone has been used to carry and deploy an anti-submarine torpedo for the first time.

interestingengineering.com

More detail from the RN's house organ.

Killing submarines by drone | Navy Lookout

www.navylookout.com

 

[KevinB]

It looks like a large Quadcopter but it is the size of a compact car

Bell did a demo in Ft Benning of a few ‘quad copters’ the largest one was the size of a LAV/Stryker.
It allegedly could lift a small vehicle (ISV etc) , but it did deliver a few pallets of 120mm Mortar ammo (inert). Something like a 3ton payload.

I suspect more and more UAS/UCV systems will grow and replace a lot of manned missions.

 

[CountDC]

Terminator comes closer.

 

[Good2Golf]

Bell did a demo in Ft Benning of a few ‘quad copters’ the largest one was the size of a LAV/Stryker.
It allegedly could lift a small vehicle (ISV etc) , but it did deliver a few pallets of 120mm Mortar ammo (inert). Something like a 3ton payload.

I suspect more and more UAS/UCV systems will grow and replace a lot of manned missions.

Some older UAS ‘dual copters’…can carry 4,000-6,000 lbs, the LMCO CQ-24A KMAX…

 

[dimsum]

Bell did a demo in Ft Benning of a few ‘quad copters’ the largest one was the size of a LAV/Stryker.
It allegedly could lift a small vehicle (ISV etc) , but it did deliver a few pallets of 120mm Mortar ammo (inert). Something like a 3ton payload.

I suspect more and more UAS/UCV systems will grow and replace a lot of manned missions.

I like that you had to specify the ammo was inert.

 

[KevinB]

I like that you had to specify the ammo was inert.

I asked…
Mainly because it was delivering it to a Parade field.

 

[Edward Campbell]

It looks like a large Quadcopter but it is the size of a compact car

BAE T-600 drone makes history by dropping a torpedo in a world-first - Interesting Engineering

Jointly developed by BAE Systems and Malloy Aeronautics, a T-600 heavy lift drone has been used to carry and deploy an anti-submarine torpedo for the first time.

interestingengineering.com

So, is it, potentially, a suitable "shipborne aircraft" for a small combatant - a 2,500 ton 'corvette,' for example?

 

[SeaKingTacco]

So, is it, potentially, a suitable "shipborne aircraft" for a small combatant - a 2,500 ton 'corvette,' for example?

I think so, yes.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

More detail from the RN's house organ.

Killing submarines by drone | Navy Lookout

www.navylookout.com

What the Fleet Air Arm eventually gets

 

[Kirkhill]

What the Fleet Air Arm eventually gets

Neat to think it delivers the same effect as the Malloy T600 but without the three paychecks, and no need for fancy decks, big boats and big crews.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Neat to think it delivers the same effect as the Malloy T600 but without the three paychecks, and no need for fancy decks, big boats and big crews.

People look at them as low tech, but they were remarkable successful. They also worked very well on the small escort carriers, thanks to their slower speeds and good handling. They were the first carrier aircraft to have radar. In ASW work they had good loiter time and their speed was quite sufficient. Apparently one of their tactics was spot a U-boat from a distance, climb into the clouds and shut off the engine and glide into the attack. I wonder if there is any benefit to make a ASW drone that is a biplane that can loiter for long periods, carry a good armament and have folding wings?
Of course they could build new one of these

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Neat to think it delivers the same effect as the Malloy T600 but without the three paychecks, and no need for fancy decks, big boats and big crews.

Not quite. You still have to pay someone to fly it, fix it and arm it.

 

[dimsum]

Not quite. You still have to pay someone to fly it, fix it and arm it.

Even if somehow the flying becomes automated, chances are the “fixing” won’t be.

Or they’ll need to pay people to fix the code to “fix” the aircraft.

I wonder if there is any benefit to make a ASW drone that is a biplane that can loiter for long periods, carry a good armament and have folding wings?

You don’t need biplanes - that’s why no one has designed one in almost 100 years.

As for the rest, I’m sure it’s already being looked at. The USN had a program for a UCAV able to operate off their carriers, but scaled it back so that it eventually became the MQ-25 Stingray tanker.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Not quite. You still have to pay someone to fly it, fix it and arm it.

For a carrier group like the QE, do the helicopters provide enough ASW protection, or would a something like the Ganet be useful in extending that bubble further out, also backed up by torpedo drone equipped ships, giving three rings of aviation protection (not counting the escorts and sub)

 

[Kirkhill]

Not quite. You still have to pay someone to fly it, fix it and arm it.

Kind of ish?

You have to have somebody to tell it where to go and how to get there but do they have to fly it?

I actually left the maintainers off my initial list considering that they would be needed. But you could just write it off rather than have to build a bigger boat with a bunk, heads, showers, galleys and passageways to accommodate the maintainers.

Which brings us back to the fact that as STOL as the Swordfish was it was still a fixed wing aircraft that required a deck to launch and land. And the deck required a bigger boat and the bigger boat made a bigger target which increased the size of the bigger crew.

Meanwhile

How many Malloy T650s could I buy for the price of an Invincible Through Deck Cruiser?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Even if somehow the flying becomes automated, chances are the “fixing” won’t be.

Or they’ll need to pay people to fix the code to “fix” the aircraft.


You don’t need biplanes - that’s why no one has designed one in almost 100 years.

As for the rest, I’m sure it’s already being looked at. The USN had a program for a UCAV able to operate off their carriers, but scaled it back so that it eventually became the MQ-25 Stingray tanker.

I am aware of the issues around biplanes, although they are still version in limited production. The big issue was as speed increased, the drag became very inefficient. I have to wonder if a Biplane design using modern design and materials might make for a drone aircraft that can loiter for long periods at slower speeds, while provide good carrying capacity, easy landing/takeoff characteristics and have excellent manoeuvrability. Along with compact stowage onboard. Hence my previous question of the benefit of a fixed wing ASW aircraft on a carrier as opposed to a helicopter only ASW air arm?

 

[Kirkhill]

I am aware of the issues around biplanes, although they are still version in limited production. The big issue was as speed increased, the drag became very inefficient. I have to wonder if a Biplane design using modern design and materials might make for a drone aircraft that can loiter for long periods at slower speeds, while provide good carrying capacity, easy landing/takeoff characteristics and have excellent manoeuvrability. Along with compact stowage onboard. Hence my previous question of the benefit of a fixed wing ASW aircraft on a carrier as opposed to a helicopter only ASW air arm?

If I were looking at fixed wing aircraft then I would be looking at a tail sitter. VTOL but with a glide function.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Neat to think it delivers the same effect as the Malloy T600 but without the three paychecks, and no need for fancy decks, big boats and big crews.

And fewer VCs

Eugene Esmonde - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[GK .Dundas]

And fewer VCs

Eugene Esmonde - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This is Canada we don't hand those out.
Come to think of it given NDHQ's enthusiasm. I suspect the only way it would be handed out is at gunpoint.