An Indonesian fisherman recently catches what appears to be a Chinese underwater drone.
According to the report from an Indonesian outlet, detik News on Dec. 20, 2020, the drone was found by a fisherman, which had what appeared to be some kind of sensor array in its nose, was just under 7.4 feet long, not counting what appears to be a long antenna or sensor extending from the rear end.
Pictures of the unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) show that it has a torpedo-shaped body with a pair of wings mounted toward the center and a vertical tail.
A report says the main material in the missile-like foreign object is aluminum. Then there are 2 wings, namely the left and right, each measuring 50 centimeters.
Furthermore, the body length is estimated at 225 centimeters, 18 centimeters tail, 93 centimeter rear antenna, and camera-like objects located in the body area.
Twitter user @Jatosint was among the first to note the strong similarities to the Sea Wing UUV, a design developed and produced by the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences’ (CAS) Shenyang Institute of Automation and that has been in use since at least 2014.
An ocean glider-type underwater drone, Sea Wing moves forward in the water, aided by its wings and tail, by repeatedly diving and then surfacing again. It performs these maneuvers using an internal system, essentially a balloon that expands and contracts as pressurized oil moves in and out, which alters its buoyancy.
China claims in the past that Sea Wing drones have been able to remain at sea for more than 30 days and dive down nearly four miles below the surface.
This is not the first time that an apparent Sea Wing drone has been found in Indonesian waters, either. In January, one was recovered near the Masalembu Islands, some 400 miles west of the Selayar Islands. In March 2019, yet another one was found in the waters around the Riau Islands even further to the northwest.
