Swimming performance of a hybrid unmanned air-underwater vehicle

An unmanned vehicle has been developed for high-speed aerial ingress to a target shallow water environment after which it transitions to underwater low-speed operations. This paper describes the computational analysis and experimental results for the final phase of vehicle operations, underwater swimming. Building on previous research, the vehicle employs a unique bio-inspired propulsion and control system for underwater operations. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results estimate hydrodynamic characteristics, and experimental data demonstrate swimming performance for two versions of the vehicle. Results and analysis validate the underwater operational capabilities of a hybrid vehicle designed for long-range flight and low-speed swimming.