In recent weeks, Chinese shipbuilders have announced several noteworthy new unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developments.
State-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) announced via its official social media account on May 31 that it has begun construction of a new trimaran large USV at its Guangzhou-based subsidiary of the 716th Research Institute. The new unmanned boat is also jointly developed with Huangpu Shipyard (Factory 427), 605 Research Institute and other companies.
“Large [USV] The trimaran high-speed hydrofoil design is adopted, which has the characteristics of fast speed and strong endurance, and can perform tasks independently in different scenarios. ” the company said, without giving further details.
Large concept images of the large USV at the launch show that the vehicle is based on the new 300-tonne multi-purpose unmanned surface combat vehicle (UCSV) design that CSSC debuted earlier at the World Defence Show (WDS) in early March 2022, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to official specifications, the UCSV is designed to displace approximately 340 tons at full load, with a hull length of 58 meters and an overall beam of 18.1 meters. The three water jets have a top speed of 42 knots and a maximum range of 4,000 nautical miles.
The maritime vehicle will likely serve as a mothership for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), the model has a stern helipad to support rotary wing drones and supplies for launch and recovery AUV below.
At the same time, a video released by “China Maritime” on June 8 shows that Zhejiang Beikun Intelligent Technology has completed the sea trial of a prototype of a 100-ton large unmanned boat. The unnamed USV, built by Jiangxi Tongfang Jiangxin Shipbuilding, is based on a trimaran hull design comparable to the U.S. Navy’s Sea Hunter, with a large main hull and pontoon-style outriggers.
In mid-2019, prototype USVs were first observed at shipyards on both sides of the Yangtze River through open-source satellite imagery.
China has in the past highlighted other concepts of large unmanned boats aimed at high-end naval operations. State-owned defense giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) unveiled the development of its unmanned D3000 ocean combat ship in late 2017, although the status of the program is unknown.
by Jr Ng
