Something fishy: Chinese submarine drone caught by Indonesian fishermen; not the first

Indonesian fishermen have discovered a suspected Chinese submarine drone in waters considered strategically important to Australia, between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, according to a report in ABC news. Images published in local media show Indonesian military officers posing with the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), which was found just before Christmas near Selayar Island in South Sulawesi, the report said.

Drone seized by the Indonesian military

The UUV was recovered from the water by a local fisherman on December 20 but was only reported to authorities six days later. According to Indonesian media, the captured drone is 225cm in length, with a 50cm wingspan and a 93cm-long trailing antenna. Another report in Independent said that the torpedo-shaped object equipped with camera and antenna was apparently still active when it was netted near Selayar Island 20 December, with its light blinking and sensors working. The drone has now been seized by the military and transferred to the 6th Main Naval Base in Makassar, where it is currently being inspected.

Writing in his blog, submarine warfare expert H I Sutton said Sea Wing gliders have been recovered in Indonesia on at least three occasions. According to him, China has deployed a number of underwater drones called Sea Wing (Haiyi) glider in the Indian Ocean, which can operate for months on end and make observations for naval intelligence purposes.

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Writing for the Forbes magazine, Sutton said that these sea gliders, which the Chinese are deploying "en masse", are a type of Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (UUV) which were launched in mid-December 2019 and recovered in February after making over 3,400 observations. Citing the government sources, Sutton in his report said that these gliders are similar to those deployed by the US Navy, one of which was seized by Beijing in 2016 to ensure "safe navigation of passing ships."

"Taken at face value, it may be surprising that China is now deploying these types of UUV en masse in the Indian Ocean. China has also deployed the Sea Wing from an ice breaker in the Arctic," Sutton wrote. According to the defence expert, reports from December last year suggested that 14 would be employed in the Indian Ocean mission but only 12 were used. Furthermore, the defence analyst said these Chinese gliders that are placed in the Indian Ocean were reportedly gathering oceanography data, which "sounds innocuous" however, is commonly gathered for naval intelligence purposes."

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(With agency inputs)