Manta Ray Prototype UUV Completes Full-Scale Testing In Southern California

Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Manta-Ray completed full-scale in-water testing off the Southern California coast.

Testing demonstrated at-sea hydrodynamic performance, including submerged operations using all the vehicle’s modes of propulsion and steering.

Northrop Grumman shipped it in subsections from its build location in Maryland to its test location in California.

The ease of shipping and assembly supports rapid deployment without crowding valuable pier space at naval facilities.

Once deployed, the vehicle uses efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water.

The craft is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable various naval mission sets.

Manta Ray aims to develop a new class of long-duration, long-range UUVs ready for persistent operations in dynamic maritime environments.

DARPA is engaging with the U.S. Navy on the next steps for testing and transitioning this technology.

A second Manta Ray performer, PacMar Technologies, will continue testing its full-scale energy harvesting system in 2024.