Design Idea - A Tethered Drone Antenna for Submarines

 

Peggy's Cove, NS (Photo by V.A. McMillan, 2012)

The idea I want to share today is one that has been bouncing around inside my head for quite some time. Between multiple readings of Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising (1986) or watching the movie The Hunt for Red October (1990), based on Tom Clancy's novel; I keep noticing one vulnerability for submarines and their crews...which is, having to surface to retrieve messages from HQ. I am not a submariner and that must be taken into consideration with my suggestion.

With the advance in drone technology, why is a tethered drone to carry an antenna to the surface not being used for improving communications connections between submarines and their HQ?? 

I understand there is an extreme low frequency (ELF) radio technology that in theory can communicate with a submerged vessel, however, if I understand things correctly due to the length of the radio waves, it takes a long time for information to be transferred between sender and receiver and back again. 

So, to reduce exposure and to increase information sharing between submarines and their respective HQ's, I would like to suggest a simple concept - the tethered drone submarine antenna. See image below:

The Tethered Drone Submarine Antenna Concept by V.A. McMillan

The idea would allow for an underwater, remote controlled drone to carry from the submarine to the surface (not more than 250 metres above), a tether which would include an antenna for multiple means of communications - UHF, VHF, SATCOM, etc.. In hostile territory, it would be best to use a burst transmission from one location to send information to HQ and then relocate and receive information to the submarine an hour or so later, from a new location. Sending & receiving at the same location seems tactically unwise.

Drones would be smaller than a Mk 18 torpedo, so it would not be a space issue to keep a half-dozen onboard the submarine. I recognize if the submarine had to cut the cable and dive to avoid detection or make evasive maneuvers to avoid contact, the antenna tether and the drone would need to be expendable in design. A simple remote cable cutter to snip the tether would likely be adequate.

The drone would launch from the top side of the vessel, behind the conning tower. The launch area could be similar to a torpedo launcher that can be dry loaded from the inside, flooded before opening the outer hatch/gate. The tether cable would be attached to the inside of the launch tube and limited to 250 metres. The  cable would be spooled on a winch for retrieval and re-use. Further, the spools would be of a quick change design, to replace the tether cable if the previous one had to be cut for an emergency dive.

The drone could also be fitted with sensors and/or video cameras to capture intel from the surface and locate any enemy vessels or aircraft within the area, or field of view.

Well, that is about it. If I have further thoughts on this idea, I will post an update in the future.

Until next time, think about new ideas...and share them!!

Mountainman.