By Zachary Keck
The Haiyan autonomous UUV could greatly enhance China’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
University researchers in China have completed testing on a new, autonomous unmanned mini-submarine, Chinese state media reported.
The reports said that researchers at Tianjin University completed a sea test of the Haiyan, an autonomous underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV).
“During the test, the vehicle worked consecutively for 21 days and reached a depth of 1094 meters. With an endurance of 30 days, the torpedo-shaped vehicle propelled at a maximum underwater speed of close to 6 kilometers per hour,” the reports said.
The Haiyan is currently being developed as a civilian vessel for the purposes of scientific exploration of marine biology, seabeds and to aid search and rescue missions. Indeed, the U.S. famously deployed the Bluefin-21 UUV to aid in the search for Malaysian Flight MH370. The Bluefin-21 was able to scan most of the immense search area in the southern Indian Ocean in nine missions.
Read the full story at The Diplomat