Navy Aviation Unit Tests Manned and Unmanned Teaming in Anti-Submarine Drill

According to China News Service, a naval aviation unit recently paired anti-submarine patrol aircraft with a type of unmanned aerial vehicle in a maritime airspace to organize a combat-oriented aviation anti-submarine training exercise. The unit utilized a manned and unmanned operational approach to form an aerial anti-submarine network establishing a continuous search, track, and strike loop. In the reported combat exercise, manned anti-submarine patrol aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles entered the designated mission area together, establishing an aerial anti-submarine search network configured with high and low coordination as well as near and far coverage. During a crucial phase of the training, an unmanned aerial vehicle maintained stable tracking on the target submarine, transmitting information that enabled the manned patrol aircraft to alter its heading, align with a drop route, and execute a simulated attack. In this operational method, unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with magnetic anomaly detectors performed low-altitude magnetic searches, avoiding human flight risk and supporting manned crew safety alongside sonobuoys used for wide-area screening.

Pilots participating in the combat training stated that physiological limitations and endurance limits restrict manned patrol aircraft during uninterrupted underwater monitoring, whereas deploying unmanned aerial vehicles for close-range verification improves rapid-response capability.