Scientists in China have reportedly developed a submarine drone that can also fly at high speeds. The drone has both civilian and military applications, including inspecting underwater mines and weakening enemy warship defense systems.
The South China Morning Post reported Monday that China’s latest drone has four propellers, including two that can tilt. It can slowly approach underwater targets and idle in one area for an extended period, researchers said.
Professor Ji Wanfeng of the Naval Aviation University in Yantai, Shandong province said the drone can dive underwater when detected by radar and quickly resurface to avoid sonar. The maneuvers could overwhelm a warship’s computer, making the drone a cheap and effective way to cripple aircraft carriers’ defense systems.
“It will surely become a powerful supplement to the Chinese navy’s existing equipment combat methods and tactics,” Ji said, adding that the drone “can achieve efficient strikes against the enemy’s key targets.”
The drone can fly at a speed of 74.6 mph, which is two times faster than typical rotor-blade drones. It also “consumes little energy when cruising in fixed-wing mode, so it can perform some fast, long-range missions in the air,” said Ang Haisong, a scientist with Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
A second researcher at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, Shaanxi province who requested anonymity said China is working on multiple “transmedia vessels” that can traverse both air and water.
“They are mainly for military applications. Some can fly at supersonic speed,” the researcher said.
Last year, documents obtained by the Morning Post revealed that China was developing a submersible drone that can track enemy submarines and attack them with torpedoes.
China’s underwater drone project was partially declassified by a Chinese engineering university involved in its development, according to the Morning Post. A Journal of Harbin Engineering University paper details a 2010 test in the Taiwan Strait in which the underwater attack drone used its own sensors to independently identify and track the submarine target, before successfully firing an unarmed torpedo at it.
The unmanned aircraft features a wingspan of 20.5 meters, has a maximum takeoff weight of 7.8 tons and is capable of carrying a wide range of payloads, including electro-optic systems, synthetic aperture radar, early warning radars, electronic reconnaissance systems, air-to-ground missiles and bombs, anti-radiation missiles and loitering munitions.
