At the Asian Defense Services Show in Kuala Lumpur, China presented a model of a super-large unmanned submarine called the UUV-300CB. It can be said that China has made it clear that it will openly sell ultra-large unmanned submarines to the world, which can be said to be big news.
A model of a super-large unmanned submarine on display at the Kuala Lumpur Defence Exhibition
You must know that the only countries in the world that can manufacture ultra-large unmanned submarines are China, the United States and Russia, and the United States will only officially receive the first "Killer Whale" ultra-large unmanned underwater vehicle in December 2023. This unmanned underwater vehicle is only used as a test boat to test and verify related equipment and its combat application, and to provide technical accumulation for this type of boat to be put into service in the future.
And Russia's most famous super-large unmanned submarine is Poseidon, which the media estimates can reach a maximum weight of 100 tons, deliver nuclear weapons to the shores of a potential enemy, destroy its vital coastal economic units, and ensure unacceptable damage to enemy territory by creating vast areas of nuclear contamination, tsunamis and other destructive effects of nuclear explosions. The West also calls it a "doomsday weapon".
Compared with the United States, China has begun to sell ultra-large unmanned submarines to foreign countries, and naval warfare has brought revolutionary changes.
It will greatly enhance the effectiveness of underwater warfare, change the traditional mode of underwater warfare, give birth to new combat forces, blur the boundaries between war and non-war, and have a far-reaching impact on future wars.
According to the volume, unmanned submarines can also be divided into: light class (SUUV about 45 kg), medium class (MUUV, about 1500 kg), large class (LUUV, about 10 tons), super large class (XLUUV, more than 40 tons). The larger size means that they have a longer range and can carry more equipment, ultra-large unmanned submarines can even carry torpedoes, mines and other large-scale offensive weapons, in addition to the small unmanned underwater vehicles need to be taken to the designated sea area by the mother ship to release and recover, and large long-range unmanned underwater vehicles can be self-departing and returning from the port.
Because of its size, ultra-large unmanned submarines can not only work synergistically with nuclear submarines, but also perform tasks ranging from anti-mine, reconnaissance and surveillance, hydrographic survey, seabed exploration, underwater communication, and auxiliary and support tasks such as decoys or false targets; It has developed into more complex and direct military operations such as anti-submarine, anti-ship, strikes against shore targets, special operations, strategic deterrence, etc.
American killer whales
To give a simple example, super-large unmanned submarines, like unmanned submarines, can simulate their own submarines, induce and deceive enemy anti-submarine forces, and cover their own submarine combat operations; It can also be used as a decoy to lure enemy submarines into their own ambush area to encircle and annihilate them. In addition, because of its larger size and more payloads, it can also carry out long-term tracking and monitoring of enemy submarines in vast and complex sea areas, and also independently carry out anti-submarine operations, lurking underwater for 2-3 days to ambush and snipe nuclear submarines.
Ultra-large unmanned submarines can also deliver mines closer to the target area for a more advantageous situation, and their large size and unmanned nature provide a new way to block and close enemy ports, shipyards, and maritime commerce at sea, and may even penetrate deep into enemy coastal areas to carry out mine warfare and disrupt enemy naval operations and freedom of navigation.
Of course, the larger the volume, the more difficult it is, according to the show, the UUV-300CB has a total length of 11.5 meters, a diameter of 1.6 meters, and a full load displacement of up to 50 tons.
This, combined with an all-electric propulsion system, not only saves interior space, but also makes it more difficult to detect by sonar when underwater. It is equipped with 380 mm torpedo tubes, which means that in the face of enemy submarines, it can quickly launch an attack and give the opponent a fatal blow, not only that, but this super-large unmanned submarine also has the ability to launch missiles, the world's first unmanned underwater vehicle carries hard destruction weapons, and the United States is to expand through the weapon module.
In addition, unlike the U.S. ultra-large unmanned submarines, China's original combination of large sonar base arrays and weapon systems is composed of nine hydrophone modules on each side of the large sonar base arrays used by China's ultra-large unmanned submarines. This seems to indicate that this type of ultra-large unmanned underwater vehicle has strong underwater situational awareness performance, and this ability of "active enemy search + active attack" is the first time in the world. The U.S. super-large unmanned submarine adopts a modular design, and the U.S. "killer whale" cannot have multiple capabilities at the same time, and its multi-purpose performance is relatively insufficient.
Through the large sonar base array of the super-large unmanned submarine, it is possible to actively search for the nuclear submarine hidden under the water, so as to launch torpedo destruction and even launch a suicide attack, even if it is a super-large submarine, it is much smaller and cheaper than a manned submarine.
Of course, the specific parameters for external sales can also be increased or deleted according to the needs of the purchasing country, but the sale of this weapon can be said to be of great significance.
In the Russian-Ukrainian war, unmanned equipment has become the main weapon on the battlefield, and many Russian ships were attacked by Ukrainian unmanned boats while patrolling, which opened the era of unmanned boat attacks, and the continuous successful raids of Ukrainian unmanned boats have become a major problem for the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
However, the ultra-large unmanned submarine is different, and the ultra-large unmanned submarine has the advantages of difficult defense, strong strike strength, high concealment and low cost against warships and submarines.
Moreover, because of their size, ultra-large unmanned submarines can have strong situational awareness of sea areas. Due to the influence of the curvature of the earth and complex sea conditions, unmanned surface vehicles will only be able to grasp the situation of tens of nautical miles or even a few nautical miles in the vicinity, and will lack the ability to explore and warn small targets on the surface or at low altitudes. Therefore, if it cannot be integrated into a powerful combat system, these unmanned boats will be powerless for long-distance targets, and the underwater situation is more complex, perception is more difficult, and the current technology is basically unable to achieve full-time navigation, and small unmanned underwater vehicles rely on inertial navigation most of the time, which increases the uncertainty of use.
The super-large unmanned submarine is different, which can strike at long-distance targets by strengthening its perception ability, and can also use the "wolf pack" combat method to launch an attack in multiple formations, even if it is sunk, it will not cause casualties.
It should be noted that the Asian Defense Services Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur only shows the foreign trade version of China's super-large unmanned submarine, which means that the performance parameters used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army itself are definitely better than the foreign trade version.