Asian navies eye undersea drones to find hidden infrastructure threats

SINGAPORE — Governments and militaries in Southeast Asia are turning to autonomous underwater tech to monitor subsea cables after a series of damaged infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, and recently, in sea lanes surrounding Taiwan.

“We are getting a lot of interest for monitoring underwater infrastructure,” Verineia Codrean, Strategic Alliances and Civilian Affairs officer for German firm Euroatlas, told Defense News.

“It seems that a lot of operators want to have this awareness of what is happening — they want to be aware of what actors are in the water, what type of infrastructure you have underwater, and is something happening near that infrastructure,” Codrean explained.

In a region where military modernization is still playing catch up amid increasing geopolitical tension, militaries want cost-efficient ways to keep an eye on vast underwater domains, ensure the safety of sailors, and resolve decreasing numbers in end strength.

And as maritime AI tools grow increasingly available, countries such as Singapore are slowly shifting to unmanned fleets and assets – a trend that will likely shape the region’s maritime future, Codrean said.

Euroatlas is riding this trend with Greyshark, an AUV co-developed with EvoLogics, which had its first showing in the region at the IMDEX Asia trade show earlier this month.

The Greyshark AUV can stay underwater for up to four months. It boasts of swarm data-sharing and stealth capabilities and the capacity to fulfill an array of missions, from monitoring underwater infrastructure such as cables and gas pipelines to stealth intelligence gathering, coast clearing, and naval mine warfare.

While open sea trials for Greyshark are set this week in Portugal, the company plans to release a charging pod for the Bravo version which will be installed in the seabed “so the Greyshark doesn’t need to go above water to recharge” and a larger version, the Foxtrot, which runs on hydrogen cell battery.

Shifting to autonomous underwater vehicles for military use is “addressing this permanent maritime awareness that you need given the geopolitics in the region. It is addressing the cost; it’s very low-cost to deploy this compared to a manned [platform]; and number three, it’s very safe. Because when you lose one of these, you don’t lose a life,” Codrean said.

The growing interest in AUVs comes after cargo ships dragged their anchors at the bottom of the Baltic Sea and damaged subsea data cables and a gas pipeline in two separate incidents. China-flagged ships caused the incidents, but European officials and militaries believe Russian intelligence agencies are behind the attacks.

Similar incidents occurred in waters surrounding Taiwan, conducted by Africa-registered ships manned by a suspected Chinese crew.

Taiwanese officials speculate an attempt by China to establish a “maritime shadow network” to sabotage Taiwanese subsea cables. While China denied the incidents as state-sanctioned, the government revealed a new ship capable of cutting cables at 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) with ease.

Adm. Stephen Koehler, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, said it’s necessary to determine if the incidents are part of “gray zone tactics,” a threat, or an accident. And the best way to do so is for countries in the region to agree on standards, he said.

“All of those things are possible,” Koehler said during the International Maritime Security Conference. “I think if we can categorize those and get some level of agreement, it is vital for all countries to have that secure infrastructure protected. And having that work under a set of norms and laws that address the underwater structures is widely important.”

While AUVs offer a way to monitor these incidents and alert operators of possible hostile activities underwater, their presence might pose challenges for Southeast Asia, where there is no formal mechanism for Navy-level exchanges in the underwater domain, according to Adm. Datuk Zulhelmy bin Ithnain, chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

“The underwater domain is becoming congested, and we do not really speak of our operations underwater especially involving submarines in our navies,” Ithnain said.

Having a template is crucial, he said, especially if Navies in the region begin to adopt AUVs into their force structure.

Leilani Chavez is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. Her reporting expertise is in East Asian politics, development projects, environmental issues and security.

新加坡——在波罗的海和台湾周边海域发生一系列海底电缆受损事件后，东南亚各国政府和军方开始转向使用自主水下技术来监控海底电缆。

“我们对水下基础设施监测方面有很多兴趣，”德国 Euroatlas 公司战略联盟和民用事务官员 Verineia Codrean 告诉《防务新闻》。

科德雷安解释说：“很多运营商似乎都希望了解正在发生的事情——他们想知道水里有哪些参与者，水下有哪些基础设施，以及这些基础设施附近是否发生了什么事。”

在军事现代化仍在努力追赶日益加剧的地缘政治紧张局势的地区，各国军队都希望找到经济高效的方式来监视广阔的水下区域，确保水兵的安全，并解决兵力下降的问题。

科德雷安表示，随着海事人工智能工具的日益普及，新加坡等国家正在逐步转向无人船队和资产——这一趋势可能会塑造该地区的海事未来。

Euroatlas 正顺应这一趋势，与 EvoLogics 共同开发了 AUV Greyshark，该产品于本月初在亚洲 IMDEX 贸易展上首次亮相该地区。

灰鲨AUV水下航行器可在水下停留长达四个月。它拥有集群数据共享和隐蔽能力，能够执行一系列任务，从监测水下基础设施（如电缆和天然气管道）到隐蔽情报收集、海岸清理和水雷战。

虽然 Greyshark 的公开海域试验定于本周在葡萄牙进行，但该公司计划为 Bravo 版本发布一个充电舱，该充电舱将安装在海底，“这样 Greyshark 就不需要浮出水面进行充电”，以及一个更大的版本 Foxtrot，该版本使用氢燃料电池运行。

科德雷安表示，转向使用自主水下航行器进行军事行动，“是为了满足该地区地缘政治形势下所需的持续海上态势感知能力。其次，它解决了成本问题；与有人驾驶平台相比，部署这种航行器的成本非常低；第三，它非常安全。因为即使损失了一艘，也不会造成人员伤亡。”

在两起货船锚链拖入波罗的海海底并分别损坏海底数据电缆和天然气管道的事件发生后，人们对自主水下航行器（AUV）的兴趣日益浓厚。这两起事件均由悬挂中国国旗的船只引发，但欧洲官员和军方认为俄罗斯情报机构是幕后黑手。

在台湾周边海域也发生过类似事件，肇事船只注册地为非洲，船员疑似为中国人。

台湾官员推测，中国试图建立一个“海上影子网络”，以破坏台湾的海底电缆。尽管中国否认这些事件是国家授意的，但政府却展示了一艘新型船只，该船能够轻松切断4000米（13123英尺）深的电缆。

美国太平洋舰队司令斯蒂芬·科勒海军上将表示，有必要确定这些事件是“灰色地带战术”的一部分、构成威胁还是纯属意外。他认为，最好的办法是该地区各国就相关标准达成一致。

科勒在国际海事安全会议上表示：“所有这些可能性都是存在的。我认为，如果我们能够对这些可能性进行分类并达成某种程度的共识，那么对所有国家来说，保护这些安全的基础设施至关重要。而且，让这些基础设施在规范和法律框架下运行，以规范水下结构，这一点也至关重要。”

马来西亚皇家海军司令拿督祖尔赫尔米·伊特纳因海军上将表示，虽然AUV（自主水下航行器）提供了一种监测这些事件并向操作人员发出水下潜在敌对活动警报的方法，但它们的存在可能会给东南亚带来挑战，因为东南亚没有海军层面在水下领域进行交流的正式机制。

“水下领域正变得越来越拥挤，我们很少谈论我们在水下的行动，尤其是我们海军中涉及潜艇的行动，”伊特纳因说。

他表示，拥有一个模板至关重要，尤其是在该地区的海军开始将AUV纳入其部队结构的情况下。

莱拉尼·查韦斯是《防务新闻》的亚洲记者。她的报道专长是东亚政治、发展项目、环境问题和安全。