Comments on: PowerSwim May Make SEALs Superhuman

By: stephen russell

stephen russell — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:30:07 +0000

Love to rent one in Maui HI, Caribbean, HI State, PR, FL, Cuba, Seychelles, Maldives, Vietnam, Australia, Fiji, Baja CA Mex
Nice.
Use for 007 movie due???
Now add Diver tug pod & wild.
Deploy from SSGNs or surface Cyclone class SpecOps cutters.
Great for USCG use & SEAL Ops.

By: PJUSA

PJUSA — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:04:41 +0000

Sounds like another boondoggle and a pocket liner $$ for someone. Seen too many items get bought “for the military” that should’ve never gone further than the boneyard, where the good stuff went in the first place.

By: RipRock

RipRock — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:55:41 +0000

How about moving supplies or an Operator gets injured? 2 swimmers pulling 1 injured swimmer decreases effeciency to 1% per able body. Change in a better direction is welcomed. 10 years ago, we weren’t in the desert, where will we be in 10 from now?

By: Chuck Teal

Chuck Teal — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:48:41 +0000

I’m curious about how the swimmer would control the Powerswim, especially if tight turns were necessary or the operator has to negotiate restricted spaces. If he has to make a rapid evasive movement near the surface, the end of the wing could pop above the surface, destabilizing him and possibly exposing him to hostiles. I would also hope there is an effective quick-release, especially for the leg shackle arrangement. Could be problematic if they run up against a surprise enemy swimmer or shark.

By: Stealth

Stealth — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:43:41 +0000

Pentagon should simply organize open competition challenges for ideas on what it would otherwise research. “Out-of-box” thinkers & garage-tinkerers will almost always win, as with the driver-less vehicle competition.

By: retcolbarry

retcolbarry — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:23:32 +0000

Reminds of some of the tests we did up at Fort Greely, Alaska in the 70’s. Dog boot test for the 172nd infantry dogs, trouble was they didn’t have dogs anymore they used Kawasaki 1000 silent snowmobiles! Had to go to Mount McKinley and use the sled dogs from the forest rangers! Point being, check with the brigade commanders to see how, what, where and why before you spend fortunes on worthless research! Want another one? F-20 Tigershark, best damn fighter aircraft I ever flew, AF boys didn’t want it, it didn’t happen! Guess nothing has changed with those R&D boys, still trying to justify their paychecks!

By: Jonathan260

Jonathan260 — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:47:04 +0000

I recall seeing this device 20–30 years ago in Popular Science magazine. DARPA may have spent megabucks on research and testing, but you could make one of these things easily for less than $100 .
A light weight, silent, all mechanical device without batteries to go flat would be a boon to SEALs. You could parachute with it, hide it easily on the beach. It wouild fill the gap between a full swimmer delivery vehicle and swim fins.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:33:41 +0000

refresh my memory please. why do the seals need this? the war we are fighting is in the freakin desert!!
Posted by: Davila, S at November 28, 2007 02:57 PM
_____________________________________________
In response, have you never heard of black ops son? Or pre-emptive development? It’s the same as fixing the air conditioning in the new Helo’s the Army bought, or finding something to replace the damn M-14A2’s with their overheating problems.
If it don’t work just right, improve it.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:15:56 +0000

don’t we already use dolphins to do this kind of work?

By: Davila, S

Davila, S — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:57:27 +0000

refresh my memory please. why do the seals need this? the war we are fighting is in the freakin desert!!