A Chinese tech firm, Yunzhou, unveiled its AI-powered, unmanned submersible, “Blue Whale,” this week.
A typhoon-proof submarine designed for safe and effective operation in extreme weather conditions, such as typhoons, can stay underwater for up to a month and is able to go ~60 meters. This is a significant advancement in Chinese marine technology.
It’s modular, so that sensors can be switched out for different purposes including storm trackers, multi-beam sonar, undersea cable inspection, and even launching meteorological rockets autonomously.
This modularity raises concerns that this vessel could also be easily repurposed for strategic military applications, even though that’s not the stated purpose.
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“Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)” by dave and rose is licensed under CC BY 2.0.