Facts, news, and interesting stuff

Popular Science pointed me at an interesting development. A team of students from the Pennsylvania State University and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have designed a helicopter that can be launched from a submarine at periscope depth. The helicopter can hold two people and can be launched from existing missile silos. Once launched, it floats to the surface and then takes off.

The idea of launching an aircraft from a submarine isn’t new. The Germans used auto gyros during World War 2. But the auto gyros were difficult to launch and recover. They also could only be assembled and disassembled while the sub was on the surface. So after the war, there was little interest in pursuing that model. Until now, no one has really experimented with an aircraft launched from a submarine.

You can find more info on the new helicopter, called the Waterspout, here.