Part of the Selayar Islands in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. A local fisherman reportedly found a “missile-like” glider in front of Selayar Island in December 2020.
Javed Hazara | iStock | Getty Images
SINGAPORE – An underwater surveillance drone deeply recovered in Indonesia’s sovereign waters last month was found to be of Chinese origin, according to defense analyst firm Janes.
The “missile-like” winged object has been identified as China’s Haiyi-built autonomous underwater glider or “sea wing,” Kelvin Wong, Janes’ chief unmanned systems analyst, said in a note Sunday. .
A local fisherman reportedly found the glider near Selayar Island, in Indonesia’s southern Sulawesi province, before handing it over to the Indonesian navy. It is the third identical submarine glider to be found in Indonesian waters within two years, Wong said.
It is not known where and why the drone was originally deployed, but the location where it was found is “disconnected from international waterways and very remote from China’s adjacent maritime claims,” the analyst said.
There have been no known Chinese scientific surveys in or around Indonesian waters that have used these gliders in 2020, Wong noted. All submarine drones used in the last known operation in December 2019 were said to have been successfully recovered.
Military use
Underwater gliders are typically used to conduct scientific research on the underwater environment, such as collecting data on chlorophyll and oxygen levels, as well as on water temperature, the analyst said.
These data are also useful for naval operations, especially in submarine and anti-submarine warfare, he added.
“A superior knowledge of a region’s waters can allow submarines to operate more quietly and reduce the likelihood of discovery,” Wong said.
“Conversely, intimate knowledge of these underwater features can help personnel (anti-submarine warfare) hunt potentially hostile submarines.”
China has a “clearly required civil-military merger policy” to use the knowledge and technologies available in civilian and commercial space to obtain military advantages, Wong explained. As a result, the “dual-use nature” of the information gathered by submarine gliders “will likely be exploited by the Chinese military,” he said.
Wong noted that the last submarine gliders found by Indonesia were near strategic waterways and suffocation points. It implies that the data collected can be used by China to improve the ability of its submarines and surface fighters to operate in these waters, the analyst said.