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Liu Zhen

When a full-scale model of the world’s first independent submarine hunter drone was unveiled at the Dubai Airshow last month, it offered a glimpse of the latest in a series of advances in China’s development of a modern integrated anti-submarine system.
The Wing Loong-X export variant unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has anti-submarine capabilities that are reportedly superior in some respects to the United States Navy’s Boeing P-8 Poseidon and other manned aircraft.
The full-scale model drone’s appearance in Dubai followed official confirmation that the Chinese navy’s latest ship-based anti-submarine helicopter, the Z-20F, was on board the aircraft carrier Fujian, commissioned earlier in November.
Meanwhile, at the Victory Day parade in September, China displayed its new generation of large anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, the Y-9Q, together with two unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) types, the HSU100 and AJX002.
All represent China’s effort to develop an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) system that can counter the challenges posed by rivals operating in the region, including Japan and its strategic partner the US.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force and the US Navy operate large and powerful submarine fleets that have long held critical choke points for the PLA Navy along the first island chain.


Beijing-Tokyo tensions have intensified since November, when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that an attack on Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” – one that could allow Tokyo to engage in military action.
It was the most explicit statement by a sitting Japanese prime minister on how Tokyo might respond to a Taiwan contingency and marked a departure from the country’s long-held strategic ambiguity over the issue – a position the US has also maintained.
Takaichi’s remarks crossed a red line on the core issue of Taiwan, which Beijing sees as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.
Most countries, including the US and Japan, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. But Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
Amid the tensions, Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi announced that preparations were “progressing steadily” for the deployment of an air-to-surface missile system on Japan’s westernmost island Yonaguni, only 110km (68 miles) from Taiwan.
Koizumi said Tokyo was considering exporting the medium-range system to Manila, which has also seen heightened tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea in recent years.
Rising geopolitical tensions have accelerated the arms race in the region, driving the rapid modernisation of the PLA Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities.




The new variant of the long-range, medium-altitude, heavy-load Wing Loong X has integrated maritime surveillance sensors to detect and track submarines.
Like crewed ASW aircraft, it can deploy sonar buoys, conduct acoustic analysis, coordinate with other airborne or naval platforms in real time and launch advanced anti-submarine torpedoes.
The drone’s key advantage lies in its exceptional endurance, giving it an extended loitering capability over critical maritime zones. It can remain airborne for up to 40 hours – far surpassing the P-8 Poseidon’s maximum flight time of about 10 hours.
The domestically developed Z-20F, a medium-lift helicopter with a range of 1,000km and an endurance of five hours, has the latest sensors and armaments, as well as advanced datalinks, benchmarked with Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawks.
The Z-20F is in the process of replacing the outdated Ka-28 and Z-9C helicopters on board China’s destroyers, especially the new Type 052D and Type 055.
These new destroyers – and some new frigates like the 054A – also have greatly improved anti-submarine capabilities, such as combined active/passive towed array sonars and variable depth sonars.
The combined transition of ships and helicopters, along with the continued rapid expansion of the fleet, is significantly improving the Chinese navy’s ASW reach and capabilities.


The Y-9Q reconnaissance aircraft, with updated AESA radars, magnetic anomaly detector and wingtip electronic sensor, is comparable to the US Lockheed P-3 Orion.
It has a much larger detection area, better locating accuracy and stronger multi-target processing than the first-generation Y-8Q but remains based on the turboprop-powered Y-9 platform. This effectively makes it lag behind the jet-powered P-8 in speed and performance.
There has been speculation that China’s next generation of ASW aircraft could be developed from its domestically produced C919 passenger jet.
The PLA’s extra-large UUVs that were unveiled at the military parade – one designed for reconnaissance and strike operations and the other for minelaying – are believed to have important roles in ASW.
These large drones can be deployed for extended periods, functioning as mobile nodes within China’s expanding “Underwater Great Wall” – a surveillance system comprising fixed seabed-mounted fibre-optic hydrophone arrays, distributed sensor nodes and swarms of smaller autonomous UUVs and surface drones operating in near-seas regions.
The system continuously collects oceanic acoustic data, including signature profiles of adversary submarines.
When activated, the extra-large UUVs can transition from surveillance to combat roles, acting as “loyal wingmen” alongside crewed submarines, surface warships and ASW aircraft to directly engage and neutralise enemy submarines.


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The full-scale model of a Chinese Wing Loong-X UAV on display during the Dubai Airshow in November. Photo: AFP

PLA’s Type 076 drone carrier on fast track to deployment with apparent second sea trial

China’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, sets sail from a shipyard in Shanghai on November 14 for its first sea trial. Photo: Xinhua

The Type 076’s most notable feature is its ability to launch uncrewed aircraft by catapult. Photo: CCTV

Japan’s export of lethal weapons to the US ‘extremely dangerous’: Chinese analysts

A member of the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force stands guard next to a surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile interceptor launcher vehicle in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, on January 18, 2018. Photo: AP

Japan’s export of lethal weapons like these surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile interceptors has been heavily constrained by the country’s Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology. Photo: AP

China bristles as Japan weighs missile export to Philippines

The Type 03 medium-range surface-to-air missile, the same model Japan plans to deploy on Yonaguni, an island just 110km (68 miles) from Taiwan. Photo: Japan Ground Self-Defense Force


Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan would lift defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP by March – well ahead of her party’s earlier timelines. Photo: AFP

Drones are on the rise over South China Sea with shift to data-driven strategies

China-controlled Scarborough Shoal is about 600km  (373 miles) from the closest Chinese military base. Photo: AFP

An undisclosed number of MQ-9 Reaper drones have been deployed to the Philippines by the US Marine Corps. Photo: Handout

A Wing Loong-10B UAV on display at the Zhuhai airshow in November. Photo: Xinhua

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China

Military

After decades within the confines of the first island chain, the PLA Navy is unveiling a succession of game-changing advances


After decades within the confines of the first island chain, the PLA Navy is unveiling a succession of game-changing advances.


Is China’s rapid progress in anti-submarine drones adding to concerns of Japan, US?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}After decades within the confines of the first island chain, the PLA Navy is unveiling a succession of game-changing advances

After decades within the confines of the first island chain, the PLA Navy is unveiling a succession of game-changing advances