{"id":9733,"date":"2022-09-16T22:46:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T19:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/?p=9733"},"modified":"2022-09-16T22:46:15","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T19:46:15","slug":"chinas-secret-underwater-drones-plan-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/?p=9733","title":{"rendered":"China’s Secret Underwater Drones Plan Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

China’s naval expansion includes a key program that was revealed in the South China Sea when two unidentified underwater vessels-drones surfaced at the Sanya naval base. This, may be the first indication of a much larger program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US Navy and the British Royal Navy are both pursuing the construction and operation of extremely large unmanned underwater vehicles (XLUUVs). These underwater drones are widely seen as a key part of their future fleet. And the first to achieve this goal may have a significant advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not surprisingly, the Chinese Navy (PLAN) also appears to have a similar program. However, no details have been made available so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satellite images of the Sanya Naval Base in Hainan in the South China Sea reveal two XLUUVs. The two vessels have been present since March-April 2021, but have only now come to light. This indicates some checks or tests. Sanya is part of a number of important naval bases in the region and hosts operational submarines. The dock where the new XLUUVs appeared is close to where China’s small submarines were previously located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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High-resolution images, taken by Maxar Technologies satellites, are available on Google Earth. Google Earth is one of the oldest Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools in the defense space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Extremely large unmanned submarine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first estimate shows that the two black objects are XLUUVs (Extra-Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle). These are too small to be normal submersibles and too large to be swimmer delivery vessels (SDVs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two submarines are of different sizes and appear to have significantly different designs. This suggests, a test of different prototypes or demo. The first XLUUV, is about 16 meters (52 feet) long and 2 meters (6.4 feet) wide. It has an improved arc. On its tail, it appears to have two propellers in a side-by-side arrangement. This is interesting, because it may indicate a connection to HSU-001 LDUUV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HSU-001 was first shown publicly in September 2019 and is believed to be operational with the PLAN, although few details have emerged since then. However, the new vessel is twice the size.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The size of the new submarine is very similar to the US Navy’s Orca XLUUV. Developed by Boeing, this system is considered a first mover in this space. However, the first Orca was only “christened” in April, while it appears that PLAN has had their prototypes in the water since 2021 or earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other XLUUV is externally simpler in form. It is much thinner but also longer, about 18 meters (59 feet). This design is reminiscent of Lockheed Martin’s candidate for the US Navy’s Orca XLUUV program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

XLUUVs are widely regarded as key naval technologies, likely to shape future conflicts. Like existing medium-sized UUVs, they can perform ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions. However, their larger size should translate to much larger ranges. It also opens up other roles such as offensive minelaying, anti-submarine warfare and transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n

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As is the nature of intelligence, the new vehicles may turn out to be something different than the XLUUVs. However, whatever they are, they are likely interesting and relevant to defense analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has been building and modernizing its Navy for the past 20 years. This includes a number of advanced underwater vehicles, some of which have not been publicly identified. So while this latest program may come as a surprise, it shouldn’t. It’s a reminder of China’s growing naval power and ambitions, and what it can create, new capabilities with relative secrecy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China’s naval expansion includes a key program that was revealed in the South China Sea when two unidentified underwater vessels-drones surfaced at the Sanya…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1808],"tags":[161,3700,215,2859,3339],"class_list":["post-9733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense-space","tag-china","tag-drones","tag-us","tag-uuv","tag-warships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9738,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9733\/revisions\/9738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}