First quadcopter drone that can be launched from a submarine underwater

SpearUAV has released its Ninox 103 UW Sub-to-Air encapsulated autonomous quadcopter, which it claims is the first loitering drone that can be launched from a submarine and other submerged platforms for immediate beyond-line-of-sight situational awareness.

With their ability to submerge, submarines have a major strategic and tactical advantage. However, from their inception they’ve also suffered since from the disadvantage of not being able to see what’s going on above the waves beyond the horizon of a periscope.

For this reason, for over a century, submariners have experimented with a number of ways to extend their view. With varying degrees of success, kites, gyrocopters, and even airplanes have been launched from submarines, but all of these had the drawback of the boat needing to surface for them to be deployed.

In recent years, navies have looked to drones that can be launched underwater to act as a reconnaissance platform. However, these have tended to be fixed-wing aircraft,…