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200 ton-class unmanned surface vessel

China's first domestically developed 200 ton-class unmanned surface vessel, characterized by its capabilities in stealth and far sea operation, can provide new tactics for naval warfare including distributed operations and swarm combat. The vessel has a displacement of about 200 tons, a length of more than 40 meters and a trimaran design. The unmanned surface vessel has a top speed of more than 20 knots, can carry out tasks under sea state 5, or rough waves, and can sail safely under sea state 6, or very rough waves.

According to the data, the development of the 100-ton unmanned boat project has been started since the end of 2015, with the goal of realizing high-sea cruise, low noise, intelligence, high stealth, unmanned and autonomous design of the 100-ton unmanned boat. , the team conquered key technologies such as high seaworthiness boat design technology, main engine variable speed low-voltage hybrid integrated power technology, integrated sensing system integrated mast technology, and autonomous navigation control technology.

The ship wrapped up its first autonomous sea trial, which took place in waters near Panzhi Island in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang Province on 07 June 2022 and ended in success after three hours of data collection, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on 09 June 2022. The ship was launched on August 28, 2019 in Jiujiang, East China's Jiangxi Province, and sailed for 1,000 nautical miles in about 30 voyages in the Boyang Lake before arriving in Zhoushan in 2021, proving its initial navigational capability prior to the first sea trial.

Some of the technical parameters of the vessel, including its detection range, stealth capability, integrated power system and comprehensive environmental awareness, are world-leading, media reports said. "The voyage results are almost identical to what we expected. Next, we will conduct collision avoidance tests for the drone ship and further examine the vessel's performance," Zou Long, the on-site leader of the project, was quoted by chinanews.com as saying.

Zhejiang-based Beikun Intelligent Technology company started the project with research and development in late 2015, aiming to build a hundred ton-class, intelligent, autonomous and highly stealthy unmanned surface vessel with the ability to cruise in high sea conditions while making little noise.

With characteristics like outstanding stealth and high situational awareness, the drone ship could see military applications and provide many new tactics in naval warfare, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times. There's no risk of casualties with unmanned equipment, so the drone ship can be sent into dangerous combat zones to carry out reconnaissance, anti-submarine, anti-aircraft or anti-ship missions with corresponding equipment, the expert said.

A group of drone ships can work as vanguards or scouts either for coastal defense or in a flotilla of larger warships with crews at far sea. They can be far away from each other and carry out distributed operations, meaning that enemies will have a hard time taking them out one by one, or they can form a swarm and overwhelm the enemies, the expert explained.

Mu Haifang, the person in charge of the construction of the boat, said: "The whole process of the construction of the unmanned boat is based on domestic technology and localization, and many technologies are pioneered in China. The overall technology of the platform has reached the world's leading level, with high economic value and extensive promotion. application prospects."

Military commentator Song Zhongping Xiang Zhengzhi explained that unmanned boats and related technologies are of great significance in both civilian and military fields. He said that in the civil field, law enforcement, anti-smuggling, and disaster relief, small unmanned boats can play the advantages of flexibility, full-time, and rapid response. At the same time, in some more dangerous situations, unmanned boats can also effectively avoid casualties.

The role of "unmanned boats" in the military field is even more prominent. Previously, "China National Defense News" once wrote that unmanned boats will subvert the future mode of naval warfare. In this regard, Song Zhongping said that in future naval battles, unmanned ships can replace manned ships to carry out tasks such as anti-ship, anti-submarine, mine clearance, and strike. Its advantage is that the construction and design of unmanned boats do not need to consider the living and working environment of personnel, which can effectively save costs and improve combat effectiveness. In addition, unmanned boats perform combat missions, which can greatly reduce casualties and losses, and are more suitable for taking on dangerous missions. "In terms of tactical tactics, unmanned boats can realize the 'shark swarm' tactics of multi-boat linkage, with one enemy and one enemy."

As for the aforementioned 100-ton unmanned boat, Song Zhongping said that its features of high stealth, high situational awareness, and high sea conditions are all designed to target the future maritime combat environment, whether it is this unmanned boat It is also the technologies it has verified, and it is of innovative significance for China to explore new forms of naval warfare.

He pointed out: "If unmanned boats want to play an important role in combat, it is very important to be able to discover each other without being discovered. In addition, in medium and high sea conditions, the general wave height can reach more than 5 meters. The environment will also restrict the combat effectiveness of manned ships. Large-scale unmanned ships emphasize the ability to work in high sea conditions, and they want to make breakthroughs in this regard. In the picture, the sides of the 100-ton unmanned ship developed by China are like 'wings'. The hull is precisely to improve the sailing stability in high sea conditions."

Zheng Zhizhi (WeChat ID: upolitics) noticed that in fact, China has been deeply involved in the field of unmanned boats for a long time. From the civilian level, a number of unmanned boats have been put into use for rescue and disaster relief and river law enforcement. From a military perspective, "Science and Technology Daily" disclosed in 2019 that the world's first amphibious unmanned defense boat "Sea Lizard" developed and built by China was delivered.

However, the unmanned boats delivered to China in the past are relatively small in tonnage, and their tasks and usable scenarios are limited. According to the person in charge of the 100-ton unmanned boat, the boat is currently the largest unmanned boat in China. Looking at the world, only the United States has unmanned boats with more than 100 tons.

"China National Defense News" published an article revealing that the world's maritime powers are attaching great importance to the development of unmanned boats. Among them, the U.S. Navy began to study unmanned boats as early as the 1990s. CCTV previously disclosed that the United States intends to build an unmanned fleet in the next few years to carry out tasks such as anti-submarine, mine clearance, and maritime electronic warfare.

In this regard, Song Zhongping said that, like unmanned aerial vehicles, in order to make unmanned boats exert excellent performance, the research and development of the equipment itself is one aspect, but more important is the basic scientific strength behind it such as artificial intelligence and communication.

"Take the communication and data link capabilities as an example, if there is no safe, reliable, real-time and uninterrupted satellite communication and command capabilities, unmanned equipment on the battlefield is likely to be interfered, 'lost contact' or even reversed control. Therefore, unmanned The equipment relies more on the combat capability of the system behind it. In this regard, our country has strong technical strength and has the advantage of being a latecomer.”