Part of the Selayar Islands in the province of South Sulawesi in Indonesia. A local fisherman reportedly found a “missile-like” glider off Selayar Island in December 2020.
Javed Hazara | iStock | Getty Images
SINGAPORE – According to defense analysis firm Janes, a drone that was deeply recovered under Indonesian sovereign waters last month has been found to be under water.
The ‘missile-like’ winged object was identified as the autonomous submarine Haiyi or ‘sea wing’ built in China, ‘said Kelvin Wong, Janes’ chief unmanned systems analyst, in a Sunday note.
A local fisherman reportedly found the glider on Selayar Island in South Sulawesi province before handing it over to the Indonesian navy. It is the third identical underwater glider to occur in Indonesian waters within two years, Wong said.
It is not known where and why the drone was originally deployed, but the place where it was found was “disconnected from international waterways and extremely removed from China’s adjacent maritime claims,” the analyst said.
No Chinese scientific surveys have been conducted in or around Indonesian waters using those gliders in 2020, Wong noted. It was said that underwater drones used in December 2019 were successfully recycled, he said.
Military use
Underwater gliders are commonly used to conduct scientific research on the underwater environment, such as collecting data on chlorophyll and oxygen levels, as well as water temperature, the analyst said.
Such data is also useful for naval operations, especially in submarine and submarine warfare, he added.
“Excellent knowledge of the waters in a region can make submarines work more calmly and reduce the chance of discovery,” Wong said.
“Conversely, intimate knowledge of these underwater traits can help personnel (undercover warfare) hunt down potentially hostile submarines.”
China has a ‘clear mandate for military-civilian amalgamation’ to use available knowledge and technologies in civilian and commercial space for military benefits, Wong explained. As a result, the “dual use” of the information collected by gliders is likely to be exploited by the Chinese military, he said.
Wong pointed out that the latest underwater gliders found by Indonesians were near strategic waterways and shock points. This implies that the data collected by China could be used to improve the ability of its submarines and surface fighters to work in those waters, the analyst said.