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US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

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11–20 of 107 posts

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#11
I wonder why the title clarifies "for rescue ops".

Is there anything inherent to this technology that prevents it from being used for anything else? The article body insists on "demonstrations relevant to specific defense operations" which sounds quite broad and not limited to rescue ops in any way.

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#12
post #11

I wonder why the title clarifies "for rescue ops". Is there anything inherent to this technology that prevents it from being used for anything else? The article body insists on "demonstrations relevant to specific defense operations" which sounds quite broad and not limited to rescue ops in any way.

It sounds less aggressive.

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#13
post #11

I wonder why the title clarifies "for rescue ops". Is there anything inherent to this technology that prevents it from being used for anything else? The article body insists on "demonstrations relevant to specific defense operations" which sounds quite broad and not limited to rescue ops in any way.

It's too low to do anything else. Snipers would decimate an entire attack squadron.

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#14
Ha, I love the "rescue ops".

This will not primarily be for rescue ops. This will be for supporting Marine standin operations on and within the first island chain. The marines have been trying to figure out how they can handle sustainment and logistics in that environment.

You can read some wonkish article about this (back in 2022) https://warontherocks.com/2022/09/sustainment-of-the-stand-i... . You'll note that the article does suggest revisiting seaplanes as a distribution option.

With a few hundred miles range, these craft would be suitable as one way island to island hoppers, or 2 way over the horizon ship to shore transports. For a sense of scale, its ~140 miles from Luzon to Scarborough Shoal (one of the contested islands in the South China Sea).

The "Viceroy" craft that Regent has mocked up on their website claims 180 mile range, 3500lb of cargo / 2 crew + 12 passengers.

EDIT: And to be clear, the article title says "to get", but the article makes clear, this is basically a testing and development contract. There's no certainty that the Marines will get this capability in any meaningful way. Probably better to replace with "to test". This is particularly important because the commercial version of this craft is also still in development and testing.

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#15
post #11

I wonder why the title clarifies "for rescue ops". Is there anything inherent to this technology that prevents it from being used for anything else? The article body insists on "demonstrations relevant to specific defense operations" which sounds quite broad and not limited to rescue ops in any way.

It sounds less aggressive.

Sounds nice and friendly, just like all those autonomous drones for SAR

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#16
post #11

I wonder why the title clarifies "for rescue ops". Is there anything inherent to this technology that prevents it from being used for anything else? The article body insists on "demonstrations relevant to specific defense operations" which sounds quite broad and not limited to rescue ops in any way.

It sounds less aggressive.

[deleted]

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#18

is this a ground effect machine?

"seaglider" is apparently a new word for ekranoplan. The difference is, the new ones tend not to be so enormous [1]. See e.g. https://www.regentcraft.com/seagliders/viceroy and https://www.hawaiiseaglider.org/what-is-a-seaglider It's the same craft with a different paint job Yes, they are Wing-in-Ground craft 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Sea_Monster

One more litetal translation of "ekranoplan" is "screen glider", so sea glider isn't that far away from it.

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#19
From the wiki I take it they have yet to build and fly a full-sized prototype

"A 1/4 scale model was successfully demonstrated in 2022 in Narragansett Bay"[1]

Also I assume radar-proof is just because it's a ground effect vehicle that will never fly high enough to show up on radar it certainly doesn't look all angular like a stealth bomber. In which case my bicycle is also radar-proof?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REGENT_Viceroy

Re: US Marines to get high-speed, radar-evading electric seagliders for rescue ops

#20
Ground effect vehicles could be the thing that's needed to make drone based delivery a reasonable thing to do, especially around lakes. It's one of life's perennial disappointments that such things only get done in military terms and under the ludicrous notion they are rescue vessels.
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