A concept for an unprecedently large diesel-electric drone submarine, as big as some crewed types in service today, has emerged from China’s top state-run shipbuilding conglomerate. The design is said to be reconfigurable to conduct different missions, including attacks on enemy vessels, mine-laying, special operations support, and act as a mothership for smaller uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUV). There is a very strong possibility this is related to an extremely similar-looking mystery submarine that emerged in China six years ago.
The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has a model of what it is calling a “small special operations unmanned submarine” on display at this year’s Zhuhai Airshow. The event, which formally opened on Tuesday, is a military-centric showcase for Chinese aviation, as well as ground-based and maritime developments.
701所の小型無人特殊潜水艦
例のセイルが無い潜水艦の正体はこれか。ただ小型とは言いつつも軽く2、30mはあるであろうUUVとしてはかなり大型の艦になる。
艦中央部は極めて大容量のバッテリーとして、同じく中央部の黄色いユニットはUUVか短魚雷か。 pic.twitter.com/ArEL6eZHJI— お砂糖wsnbn (@sugar_wsnbn) November 10, 2024
The model shows a relatively traditional submarine design hull-wise, but with a very low-profile dorsal hump in place of a traditional sail. The model is a cut-away and a load of torpedoes, as well as a torpedo tube, is visible. A large central battery array, propulsion system elements driving a single unshrouded propeller at the stern, and other mission systems in the bow are also present. There is also a large collapsible mast at the rear, which is a typical feature on larger UUVs, including the Orca that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Navy.
Pictures said to show a CSSC product card available at Zhuhai, seen in the social media post below, indicate the model reflects a “Type A” configuration capable of carrying between eight and 12 torpedos and/or torpedo tube-launched missiles. A Type B variant that could accommodate six to eight special operations divers and their gear and a Type C version able to carry eight to 12 mines or “small” UUVs (or four “large” UUVs) are also mentioned.
小型無人特殊潜水艦の詳細
高い機動性と魚雷,機雷,UUV,ダイバーなど多様なペイロードを搭載可。用途に応じA,B,C型3タイプを用意。
全長:38-43m
排水量:380-450t
潜航深度:300-450m
最高速力:20kt
巡航:8kt
航続距離
水中連続:6ktで1000-3000nm
total:6ktで10000nm
動力:400kw LFPバッテリー＋DE発電機 https://t.co/AcGRF0okfg pic.twitter.com/pFubbByWUt— お砂糖wsnbn (@sugar_wsnbn) November 13, 2024
Depending on the version and loadout, the product card says the drone submarine’s overall length is between around 124 and 141 feet (38 and 43 meters) and its surfaced displacement is between 380 and 450 tons. The design will be able to dive down to depths of (300 to 450 meters), as well as sail at a maximum speed of 20 knots and cruise at eight knots while on the surface, according to CSSC. Its underwater cruising speed is pegged at six knots. Stated maximum continuous underwater and surfaced ranges of 3,000 nautical miles and 10,000 nautical miles, respectively, both while traveling at a steady speed of six knots, are given on the card, as well.
For comparison, the German-made Type 206 crewed diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK) is (48.6 meters) long and has a surfaced displacement of 450 tons. The German Navy retired the very last of its Type 206s in 2011, but examples continue to serve with the Colombian Navy. CSSC’s “small” drone submarine is also larger than some crewed midget submarines in global service, such as North Korea’s (34 meter) long, 370-ton surfaced displacement Sang-O-class.
A pair of decommissioned German Type 206 submarines. Tvabutzku1234 via Wikimedia
A North Korean Sang-O-class submarine that South Korea captured in 1996 now on display in the latter country. Idobi via Wikimedia
As another point of comparison, the initial prototype of Boeing’s aforementioned Orca, which is typically categorized as an “extra-large” UUV (XLUUV), is around 85 feet long and has a displacement of around 85 tons while on the surface. The Orca is a modular design and initial operational versions are already set to be longer and have greater displacements due to their school bus-sized payload sections.
The initial Orca XLUUV prototype, at right, and one with the additional payload section, at left. Boeing
What degree of autonomy CSSC might be envisioning for its new drone submarine design is unclear, but the product card describes the ability for human controllers to interface with the submarine via beyond-line-of-sight satellite communications and/or underwater acoustic links. The mast seen on the model would be key to sending and receiving data. More robust autonomy would be required for some of the proposed mission sets.
No explicit mention is made on the product card of any particular features to reduce the design’s acoustic or other signatures. As already noted, the model shows the design’s single propeller to be unshrouded.
A large and long-endurance drone submarine of this kind could be highly useful though for many missions, depending on its ability to operate autonomously, both in littoral areas around Chinese-controlled territory and further out to sea. The drone submarines could be used to form an underwater picket line in a particular area for extended periods of time. This, in turn, would also allow Chinese forces to increase the submarine threat in that zone and otherwise bolster operational capacity, including in cooperation with crewed fleets, and do so at lower cost.
Submarines, in general, also offer valuable platforms for conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, and doing so discreetly. Just knowing that some number of these very large UUVs are out there, even if they are not overly difficult to detect by submarine standards, could be a complication for opponents, who would still have to devote resources to find them and at least track their movements.
A US Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol plane drops sonobouys. Elbit Systems of America
The CSSC product card also explicitly mentions the potential for the drone submarines to support blockade operations, something authorities in Beijing routinely threaten to do to the island of Taiwan and that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) actively trains for. The Type B configuration is also clearly intended to support special operations raids.
It’s interesting to note here that Taiwan state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) and the island’s Lungteh Shipbuilding have also been working on a new larger UUV design equipped with a pair of torpedo tubes. You can read more about the Huilong, or “Smart Dragon,” which is still notably smaller than CSSC’s new drone submarine concept, here.
Military enthusiasts have captured photos of Taiwan’s domestically developed “Huilong” unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) with torpedo tubes, revealing potential combat capabilities. pic.twitter.com/uBZ3AAGbCN
— TaiwanPlus News (@taiwanplusnews) October 24, 2024
All that being said, it is unclear how advanced any work on this ambitious drone submarine concept may be and how much progress, if any, there has been toward making it an operational reality. There are signs, however, that CSSC may have already made substantial headway on this design or a closely related one. In 2018, JN shipyard, a CSSC subsidiary, launched a previously unseen submarine design. A screen capture from a video that emerged the following year confirmed that it had a very low-profile dorsal hump in lieu of a typical sail. Independent naval analyst H. I. Sutton has estimated the design to be around 150 feet (45 meters) long based on available pictures, videos, and satellite imagery, which would be in line with the design CSSC has now displayed in model form.
A picture of the still mysterious submarine JN Shipyard launched in 2018. Chinese Internet
A top-down look at the submarine from JN Shipyard with its very low profile sail. Chinese Internet
It has been pointed out that there are certain differences between the drone submarine model at Zhuhai and the real low-profile-sail-equipped submarine, including in the shape and position of the diving planes. At the same time, it’s not uncommon for models to differ significantly from their real-world counterparts, as was just recently seen with the JARI-USV-A uncrewed surface vessel that also made its public debut at Zhuhai this year and that you can read more about here. Like the JARI-USV-A, the mysterious submarine from JN shipyard could also still be more of a testbed intended to help lay the groundwork for future operational designs.
An interesting UUV: armed, sailless. Title on the display is “small special warfare UUV” but seems rather large, based on the maintenance ladders and its payloads.
Reminds me a bit of the sailless submarine a couple years back, though differences exist (diving planes etc) pic.twitter.com/DvPFXk7B6A
— Rick Joe (@RickJoe_PLA) November 10, 2024
However advanced work on the design might be, CSSC’s “small special operations unmanned submarine” concept is yet more evidence of the Chinese military’s broader uncrewed ambitions at sea, as well as in the air and on land. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to make significant strides in actually fielding drone capabilities across all domains.
The PLA Navy is also continuing to expand the size and scope of its crewed surface and underwater fleets with increasingly more advanced and capable designs. This is backed by massive domestic shipbuilding capacity that has increasingly prompted concerns among Western navies, including the U.S. Navy.
Time will ultimately tell whether or not CSSC’s drone submarine model at Zhuhai evolved into an operational capability, but there are signs that active work on the design maybe underway already.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
