US to sail submarine drones in South China Sea

As it watches China build up its presence in the South China Sea, one reclaimed island at a time, the US military is betting on a new technology to help retain its edge — submarine drones.

During the past six months, the Pentagon has started to talk publicly about a once-secret program to develop unmanned undersea vehicles, the term given to the drone subs that are becoming part of its plan to deter China from trying to dominate the region.

Ashton Carter, US defense secretary, made special mention of drone subs in a speech about military strategy in Asia and hinted at their potential use in the South China Sea, which has large areas of shallower water.

The Pentagon's investment in subs "includes new undersea drones in multiple sizes and diverse payloads that can, importantly, operate in shallow water, where manned submarines cannot", said Mr Carter, who visited a US warship in the South China Sea on Friday.

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and there are these...

DARPA christens its anti-submarine drone ship 'Sea Hunter'

http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/08/darpa-christens-actuv-sea-hunter/

DARPA's Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) has a brand new and less tongue twisty name: Sea Hunter. The agency made the announcement at the drone ship's christening in Portland, following a series of speed tests conducted these past few days. Now that DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar is done smashing a bottle over its bow, it's ready to begin a battery of tests to be held within the next two years. The military has to make sure the 132-foot self-driving ship can evade other marine vessels using its radar and cameras, among other things, before it can officially deploy it.

Sea Hunter has the capability to hunt stealthy foreign submarines -- China's and Russia's navies both have big submarine fleets -- and follow them for two to three months at a time. Deputy US Defense Secretary Robert Work clarified to Reuters during the event, though, that the drone doesn't have weapons. If the military decides equip it with any, Work said the decision to use them would be made by human personnel. We're guessing they'd be controlled remotely, since the ship wasn't designed to house a crew on board. The ship is slated to start its open-ocean tests this summer off the California coast.

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