Described herein is a towed body (10) having a deployment mechanism (18,
20, 22, 28) for deploying a drag cone carried thereby. The towed body
(10) comprises a body portion (12), a nose portion (14) and a tail
portion (16). The deployment mechanism comprises a slider (20) mounted on
the body portion (12) to which are pivotally mounted a plurality of
forward opening blades (24). The slider (20) has a clip (22) mounted
within it for locking the blades (24) in the fully deployed position. The
slider (20) abuts a hub (18) for providing a surface on which the fluid
acts as the towed body (10) is being towed therethrough. From a stowed
position, fluid acting on the hub (18) forces the slider (20) and the
blades (24) to move towards the tail portion (16). The blades (24) move
up and over a bumper (28) located adjacent the tail portion (16) to
deploy from the stowed position. When the blades (24) are fully deployed,
the clip (22) engages with the body portion (12) to lock the blades (24)
in position. In this position, the blades (24) substantially define a
drag cone. Once the fully deployed position has been reached, the hub
(18) is jettisoned to remove any unwanted turbulence.