If you’re planning some sort of complicated jewel heist involving boats, I have some good news for you.
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, maker of many futuristic high-tech objects, has developed what it calls the CRACUNS (Corrosion Resistant Aerial Covert Unmanned Nautical System), a drone that can operate in both the air and underwater. CRACUNS can operate submerged (even in salt water!) for long periods of time, and can even be launched from underwater.
“CRACUNS enables new capabilities not possible with existing aerial or underwater platforms,” the Hopkins Hub reports. “CRACUNS payload flexibility and its ability to operate in harsh environments enable a wide array of potential missions, and its low cost makes it expendable, allowing for the use of large numbers of vehicles for high-risk scenarios.”
CRACUNS is being compared to Navy submarines, and it’s likely that its primary use will be by the military. But I like to think that there are some supervillains out there rubbing their hands together in glee, thinking about what schemes they’ll pull off once they get themselves a CRACUNS.
