This post first appeared on FloatingPath
Sandia National Laboratories recently disclosed its project for an unmanned drone that has the ability to fly, land in water and swim, then crawl onto land in what they are calling the Multi-Modal Vehicle Concept.
The recent advances in drone technology from DARPA and continued efforts from the defense complex in general have been leading to an entire new generation of warfare in which the human soldier is engaged less and less.
Sandia National Laboratories, despite their very government-sounding title, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of defense giant Lockheed Martin. On their website, Sandia claims to have “conducted limited testing on conceptual hardware, and while the concept may appear to be off in the distant future, our testing has shown that this concept could soon be a reality.”
“The real value added [of the Multi-Modal Vehicle] is that it allows maximum flexibility in highly complex missions without the concern over whether or not all of the vehicles are positioned just right,” Jon Salton, a Sandia engineer working on the project, told Wired.
