On: Police helicopter's 100mph chase with 'super sophisticated' drone near Tucson

[sokoloff]

GPS doesn’t work underwater. Almost all the drone tech navigates by GPS; converting over to an inertial nav system and making that reliable for autonomous underwater operation is a good bit more than “relatively straightforward” I think.

[smiley1437 → sokoloff]

Narcosubs are typically just barely sub-surface, they don't operate deep like navy subs.

The portion above water is designed to be low enough to be hidden by waves but is still above the surface so using GPS wouldn't be an issue.

[Gustomaximus → smiley1437]

I'd assume narcos have fully submersible subs, just those ones don't get caught.

[jet_32951 → sokoloff]

Easily done via small IMUs with aiding from GPS using a surface-tethered antenna.

[echelon → sokoloff]

A waterproof mast could hold a GPS receiver above the water. Or the submersible could surface occasionally to sample its location and bearing.

If it kept to a low profile, it wouldn't even matter if it was slightly above water.

[dragonwriter → sokoloff]

> GPS doesn’t work underwater.

Neither do most narco“subs”, which are mostly semi-submersible.