The Chinese government has invested significant resources into research and development of crewless surface vehicles, AI, and machine learning. It also works on developing small drones and platforms to field aerial drones at sea. Last year, China launched a catamaran mothership, the Chinese AI mother ship, intended to deploy and recover fleets of small aerial drones for training and potential wartime purposes.
Unveiling of the Chinese AI Mother Ship
Recently, China launched the world’s first crewless drone carrier. Artificial intelligence powers the ship, which is capable of navigating autonomously in the open sea. Beijing officially describes it as a maritime research tool. Meanwhile, some experts have said the Chinese AI mothership has the potential to be used as a military vessel.
The Twitter post below shows that the autonomous ship Zhu Hai Yun measures 290 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 20 feet deep. According to the shipbuilder CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipping Co, the vessel can handle dozens of air, sea, and submersible drones powered with different observation instruments.
CSSC Huangpu describes the vessel as “epoch-making” and the “world’s first intelligent unmanned system mother ship.”
Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Insider that the most immediate benefit to China is likely data collection.
From a purely scientific point of view, as the angle China is promoting, we could see Chinese drones contributing to disaster mitigation and environmental monitoring, among others.
However, China’s military could also use the drone mother ship to gather information in the contested South China Sea, wherein several countries have made competing territorial claims.
China’s Bold Claims of Sovereignty Over the Sea
In recent years, China has made continuous assertive claims of sovereignty over the sea and built its military power.
“When dealing with China, we seldom have perfect insight into their intentions. However, as we have observed with its activities in the South China Sea, scientific ventures can be a precursor or support military objectives,” Funaiole stated.
“Commonly, technology like information collection systems dual-use applications. In this case, data collected by China from autonomous systems could aid with surveillance, domain awareness, help People’s Liberation Army (PLA) submarines navigate, and enhance China’s anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities.”
The Chinese AI mother ship was unveiled last May. But it is predicted to be delivered by the end of this year. This comes after conducting and completing sea trials, the South China Morning Post revealed.
Crewless Platform: The Future of Warfare?
A South China Morning Post report showed that the mother ship utilized the world’s first AI system. It’s called Intelligent Mobile Ocean Stereo Observing System, developed by the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory.
The Chinese AI mother ship will be controlled remotely. According to the shipbuilder, it can travel up to 18 knots or about 20 miles per hour.
Chen Dake, the laboratory director, spoke to the state-run Science and Technology Daily in 2021. The director said the ship is touted as the new “marine species” that will transform ocean observation initiatives.
China, the world’s biggest shipbuilder, has dreamed of becoming a great maritime power.
While this vessel’s capabilities and uses remain to be seen, militaries worldwide have increasingly focused on developing drones and crewless vehicles.
Funaiole noted that China had invested significant resources in various unmanned platform projects. These include drones and autonomous vehicles, with goals to strengthen the position of its navy. Lastly, Funaiole said this would be part of the future of warfare.
