World News | Australia launches underwater vehicle to counter China

canberra [Australia], Dec. 20 (ANI): Australia has unveiled a prototype of its sub-drone to support underwater surveillance and mine warfare capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The move is aimed at countering China’s dominance in underwater warfare and bridging the gap in naval warfare between the two countries.

According to the Asia Times, the UUV unveiled this time is a large displacement (Dive-LD) aircraft that will improve Australia’s ability to counter China in the Indo-Pacific, and even provide assistance in the event of US involvement in the conflict Pan Asia Digital News Platform .

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There are plans to create an armed version of the UUV called the Ghost Shark. Gabriel Horrada reports in Asia Times that the vehicle will be developed by Australia in partnership with the Australian company Anduril, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Defense Science and Technology Group national agency, with an investment of US$100 million.

The project, part of the Australian Extremely Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (XL-AUV) program, aims to produce affordable autonomous underwater vehicles for military and non-military purposes. According to a report by Honrada, the production Ghost Shark partnership aims to deliver a production model of the combat Ghost Shark by 2025.

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Honrada quotes RAN Rear Admiral Peter Quinn in The Warzone report: “Because of its modular and multipurpose nature, our adversaries will need to assume that their every move in the maritime domain is being watched by us, and that every XL- AUVs are capable of deploying a wide range of effects — including lethal effects.”

Quinn further stated that Australia’s recently released Robotics, Autonomous Systems and Artificial Intelligence (RAS-AI) strategy includes “rapid development of operational readiness prototypes to accelerate the operational deployment of game-changing capabilities such as Ghost Shark”.

This addition to Australia’s naval capabilities will prove beneficial in preventing the proliferation of mines in the Indo-Pacific region. In a 2020 report by Sea Power Soundings, Alia Huberman noted that naval mines will become increasingly common in the Indo-Pacific as more and more regional states implement their own anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities. more common.

Honrada quoted Huberman as saying China could use 5,000 to 7,000 of its 50,000 to 80,000 mines over a period of four to six days to cut off the latter’s most strategic ports within two days. In addition, she noted that China could also mine waters east of Taiwan, making intervention exponentially more difficult for the US given its backward mine countermeasures (MCM) capabilities.

In addition, Huberman said, well-placed mines in the Indo-Pacific region could lead Chinese forces toward the kill zone, making better use of Taiwan’s defensive resources. It can also be used to slow down Chinese troops so they can provide backup.

Likewise, India is also trying to marshal naval warfare capabilities for any war-like scenario that might arise. The project’s fifth submarine, the No. 75 Kalvari-class submarine, number 11879, was delivered to the Indian Navy on December 20.

Project-75 involves the indigenous construction of six Scorpene-designed submarines. The submarines are being built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai in partnership with France’s M/s Naval Group. Launched on 11/12/20, Vagir will begin sea trials on 1 February 2022. It is a matter of great pride that she completed all major trials, including weapons and sensor trials, in the shortest possible time compared to earlier submarines.

Submarine construction is a complex activity, made even more difficult when all equipment needs to be miniaturized and meet strict quality requirements. Construction of these submarines at Indian yards is another step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, boosting confidence in the field, a notable achievement being the third submarine delivered to the Indian Navy in 24 months. Submarines will soon be in service with and enhance the capabilities of the Indian Navy. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)