Possible Chinese Sail Drone Found In Taiwanese Waters
At around noon local time on July 19 2024 a sail powered surface drone (uncrewed surface vessel: USV) was found by Taiwanese fishermen in the waters off Mudou Island. The islands are around 30 nautical miles (60km) west of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait. Media has reported it as a U.S. Navy Saildrone, but it does not match this type, or other Western designs.
There is a possibility that it is a previously unreported Chinese model.
The vessel was seemingly devoid of national or manufacturer markings. The hull shape, sail, and solar panels all do not match known Saildrone variants.
Qingdao University Sail Drones, China
Analyst John Carre pointed out that the drone is very similar to one developed by Qingdao University in China, with the First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources. This development is discussed here, and includes images which provide strong design hints to the discovered type.
This generally matches the one found, but is smaller and seen without sensors or communications antenna.
Seagull uncrewed sailboat, China
This vessel was developed by Shenyang Institute of Automation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It carried out sea trials in Qingdao in 2019.
Other Sail USV designs For Visual Comparison
The category-defining Saildrone, which is used by the U.S. Navy, is around 7 meters long and 5 meters tall. It's defining visual characteristic is the large 'tabbed tail' vertical stabilizer behind the sail.
American Saildrone Explorer USV used by U.S. Navy. Various sensor configurations seen.
There is a version with a cut-down sail and no tabbed tail, but again this is quite different from the vessel discovered off Taiwan.
The Australian Bluebottle USV has a taller hull with square stern and almost square sail. When retracted, the sail folds aft to lay flat on top of the hull.
Another American design, the Triton from Ocean Aero, has bother surface and submerged modes, described as an Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicle (AUSV). It can sail and submerge autonomously. It has a rounded hull with two tail-like fins aft. When the sail is retracted it folds aft like a long spine running along the deck.
The Norwegian Sailbuoy is a smaller design, just 21 meters long, with its sail mounted well forward on the hull.
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