Lockheed Martin set to make seed-sized spy plane

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.7-million, 10-month contract to design a remotely controlled nano air vehicle (NAV) that is capable of collecting military intelligence both indoors and in urban outdoor environments.

Although described as a Nano the NAV is not nanometer in scale, instead it is likely to be about 1.5-inches long and similar in size and shape to a maple tree seed, according to Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL), which has been contracted to lead the design team.

Lockheed Martin said a remote pilot would be able to fly the NAV towards its target by viewing its flight path through a camera embedded in the wing with images transmitted wireless back to the operative. As the system is developed Lockheed Martin expects an autopilot to be included aboard the NAV to provide limited autonomous operations. Once the NAV delivers its payload, it will return to base for collection and refurbishment.

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Wow, the applications of such a system are almost limitless. It is great that such new innovations keep coming up

nice,

i'm not expert or anything on aircrafts (i only go on what i read on here), but thing that catches my eye about that post in $1.7-million!!

thats not much at all, and when i see the prices of ucav's that are in development, they are $millions/billions£ cheaper than manned projects, yet seems more effective (stealth/speed etc)!!

maybe thats a concern for the United States in the future, if robot planes and gizmo's are so cheap to produce 'ALL' nations will be producing them,

many nations already have stealth UCAV's in production, in 20/30 years will america still have a technological advange over most nations?? or will warfare be just one BIG computer game??

my robot machines vs your robot machines, if thats the case is that an advantage?







[edit on 1-8-2006 by st3ve_o]

Dont suppose it would be much good is a strong wind. A hailstone might even destroy it

actually i think japan would be more technologicly advance. i mean....theve all kinds of stuff. like 5 megapixel cameraphones

Originally posted by waynos
Dont suppose it would be much good is a strong wind. A hailstone might even destroy it

In the places the US is interested into going to war, the only thing you need to be concerned about is an occasional sandstorm :p

yeah japan is, what i ment was technogicaly in a military sence!!

but i predict 100 years japan will be the main nation of earth anyway (if not already) in every department...i use my loaf (head) and relise that an american won't be the first person to shake hands with a extra-terrestrial (as we are led to believe in films).

if anyone will figure out how to go beyond the speed of light it will be the japanese, (very clever people) they've just started to get involved in space travel too, so stay tuned

Originally posted by DalairTheGreat
actually i think japan would be more technologicly advance. i mean....theve all kinds of stuff. like 5 megapixel cameraphones

[edit on 1-8-2006 by st3ve_o]

Originally posted by st3ve_o
i'm not expert or anything on aircrafts (i only go on what i read on here), but thing that catches my eye about that post in $1.7-million!!

thats not much at all, and when i see the prices of ucav's that are in development, they are $millions/billions£ cheaper than manned projects, yet seems more effective (stealth/speed etc)!!

The 1.7 mill is for R&D on a 1.5 inch plane...so i'm not sure why you were expecting a higher dollar amount.

st3ve_o
maybe thats a concern for the United States in the future, if robot planes and gizmo's are so cheap to produce 'ALL' nations will be producing them

I believe the global hawk costs around 45 million...not exactly a drop in the bucket.
and the US has GPS...the rest of the world has no such network in place.
UAV's are cheaper...but there not cheap.
hence why lockheeds newest (formerly secret) Polecat UAV was mainly constructed by using 3D printing...making production cheaper, and helping out with stealth in the process.

st3ve_o
many nations already have stealth UCAV's in production

many nations??? I cant think of one nation...including the US.

st3ve_o
in 20/30 years will america still have a technological advange over most nations?? or will warfare be just one BIG computer game??

war will never become a computer game, and yes, I think America will still have the most powerful military in 20-30 years.

DalairTheGreat
actually i think japan would be more technologicly advance. i mean....theve all kinds of stuff. like 5 megapixel cameraphones

OMG, 5MP camera phones!!! clearly Japan is on the cutting edge of technological sword.

South Korea is currently the top dog when it comes to cell phones...and there quickly catching up to Japan in terms of robotics.

st3ve_o
but i predict 100 years japan will be the main nation of earth anyway (if not already) in every department...i use my loaf (head) and relise that an American won't be the first person to shake hands with a extra-terrestrial (as we are led to believe in films).

the main nation??? You mean superpower, or that there going to conquer the entire world.
Japan isn't very big...so by that alone they will never be in the same category as China, Russia, & the US.
After WWII Japan signed a treaty that said it could only have a self-defense military. But i'm not sure how much longer this treaty will hold up...even the US wants Japan to beef up its military...something Japan really wants to do since North Korea keeps on firing missiles near, and in one case over, there island.

Murcielago
At least UK, France, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Italy and SA have Stealth UAV/UCAVs under developement...

Originally posted by northwolf
Murcielago
At least UK, France, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Italy and SA have Stealth UAV/UCAVs under developement...

yeah...there all in the R&D phase...none of which are in production.

Originally posted by Stealth Spy

Once the NAV delivers its payload, it will return to base for collection and refurbishment.

Hey, what kind of payload could they be referring to? Would it actually be possible to attach some sort of weapon or bomb on these things? That would be amazing. With a flight distance of 1000 yards, it could be very useful on the battlefield. Maybe emit some kind of high frequency to knock out anyone in a short range.

And i bet if the States are looking into this technology, they are already researching how to defend against it.

Originally posted by poolboy
And i bet if the States are looking into this technology, they are already researching how to defend against it.

Yeah, you go down there to your local Dollar store and get you some fly swatters, I’m telling you, they work wonders.

But seriously, these things could be useful for spying inside and around houses and such, fit it with a thermal and its good during the day and night.

Payload could be an RFD chip.

Imagine dropping a sticky RFD chip on a high value target? That alone makes this tech more than worth the effort.

Also imagine one of these with a stinger? Does not take much of certain types of toxins to dissable/kill a person...

Or maybe drop a small bit of paint or dye that only shows up under certain wavelenghts of light. You could "mark" entire units of troops and vehicles this way and they would stand out under darkness.

Maybe make a “sticky” variant of one of these planes and fly it into a inconspicuous place on a ship while it’s in port. You could track that ship indefinitely without any effort at all.

The value of this technology is staggering.


[edit on 3-8-2006 by skippytjc]

Coat em with ricin and set em loose in a war.Ricin is 6,000 times more deadly than cyanide(ricin the size of a grain of sand can kill a 160lb adult!

Originally posted by skippytjc
Payload could be an RFD chip.

Imagine dropping a sticky RFD chip on a high value target? That alone makes this tech more than worth the effort.

Also imagine one of these with a stinger? Does not take much of certain types of toxins to dissable/kill a person...

Or maybe drop a small bit of paint or dye that only shows up under certain wavelenghts of light. You could "mark" entire units of troops and vehicles this way and they would stand out under darkness.

Maybe make a “sticky” variant of one of these planes and fly it into a inconspicuous place on a ship while it’s in port. You could track that ship indefinitely without any effort at all.

The value of this technology is staggering.


[edit on 3-8-2006 by skippytjc]

Why even make it have a payload, just make the whole craft an expendable rfid device or gps tracking unit

Finally! Something I can use to spy on my neighbor's wife in the shower!

When will it be available to the public?

They should work on bullets with this technology, something a normal soldier could fire out of his riffle, equiped with a mini parachute to give him or her and command a better close up view of the battle field.

I dont understand how this "wing" is going to stay airborne for long ? I mean whats its power source ? max 1 hour ?