Operation Penguin! Navy plan to put flippers on submarines as it explores 'evolutionary biomechanics' to power vessels

 It SOUNDS like something from the script of The Hunt For Red October, the Hollywood film in which Sean Connery commands a Russian submarine powered by a revolutionary engine so quiet it can pass for a whale.

The Royal Navy has revealed its hunt for a ‘unique propulsion system’ – based not on conventional thrusters but on the way fish and other animals move in the sea.

In what was immediately dubbed ‘Project Penguin’, the Navy declared it was interested in powering vessels with so-called evolutionary biomechanics, inspired by the ‘flapping fins of swimming animals such as rays, penguins and turtles’. 

It added: ‘Examples of this may include, but not be limited to, how a dolphin manoeuvres underwater, or how a snake swims on the surface.’

The project emerged after the Navy asked innovators and entrepreneurs what was available in the commercial sector with a view to adapting it for military use.

Companies were requested to give details of their technology in terms of ‘size, weight, payloads, comms, anti-collision, robustness, environmental limitations, manoeuvrability, propulsive efficiency and noise’. 

The Navy asked firms: ‘If we were to provide an opportunity for a live demonstration in November 2021 in a maritime environment, what would you be able to show?’

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The project emerged after the Navy asked innovators and entrepreneurs what was available in the commercial sector with a view to adapting it for military use (Pictured: Artist impression of potential future Royal Navy submarine technology)

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Last month, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, said: ‘Only by continued experimentation with the latest technology can we properly prepare our people for the challenges of the future' (Pictured: Foreign adversary Vladimir Putin)

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‘Project Penguin’ is inspired by the ‘flapping fins of swimming animals such as rays, penguins and turtles’ (Pictured: Artist impression of potential future Royal Navy submarine technology)

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‘Project Penguin’ got off to a difficult launch last week after would-be innovators were offered just £200 to develop a product – a sum quickly corrected to a more attractive £200,000 (Pictured: British submarine)

Companies were also asked to assess the potential of their technology in two to five years’ time.

‘Project Penguin’ got off to a difficult launch last week after would-be innovators were offered just £200 to develop a product – a sum quickly corrected to a more attractive £200,000. 

The Ministry of Defence declined to comment beyond making clear it was only putting out ‘feelers’.

But it emerged last month that Royal Marines are set to use a new ‘Raydrive’ underwater drone disguised as a manta ray, developed by an Oxford-based company.

Equipped with wings and 3D-printed fins to help it glide through the water, it will be used to spy on enemy warships and submarines.

Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, said: ‘This does remind me of The Hunt For Red October and its stealth propulsion system, although even that was picked up by highly sensitive sonar sensors.

‘So it’s welcome to see innovators think outside the box on even stealthier forms of propulsion which could be adapted for military use.’

Last month, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, said: ‘Only by continued experimentation with the latest technology can we properly prepare our people for the challenges of the future.’