Jiaolong – An Underwater Dragon

Some time in end August 2010 the Chinese heralded their entry into an elite band of nations that have deep diving capability. On 27 August 2010 the Chinese authorities announced that a domestic submersible called Jiaolong had reached a depth of 3,759 meters. The dive took place in the South China Sea and a Chinese flag was planted on the seabed using a robotic arm. This earmarked China as the fifth country in the world to acquire deep diving technology surpassing the 3,500 meter depth mark. As per reports the Chinese submersible is 8.2 meters long, weighs nearly 22 tons, can carry a crew of three (one driver and two researchers) and is designed to reach a depth of 7,000 meters. Jiaolong is considered to be the world’s only deep-sea vessel that can theoretically reach that depth. Japan’s submersible Shinkai has a depth capability of 6,500 meters. The other three nations with deep diving technology are USA, France and Russia. Jiaolong in Chinese folklore is a mythical shape-shifting water dragon.

This would give the Chinese access to 99.8 per cent of the world’s ocean floor and the capability of harnessing the lode of mineral wealth, especially oil. It would also give them the capability of viewing and examining submarine cables that carry other nations communications and objects of intelligence value that were hitherto not reachable. These include lost nuclear arms, sunken submarines and ships, and also the many warheads that have been fired for missile testing.

Chinese officials say that this submersible development (still under further testing) is aimed at scientific research to aid peaceful exploration and utilization of natural resources. Presently the submersible operates with a mother ship as do most of the submersibles in the world.

Development of submersible technology commenced around half a century ago and China has developed a deep sea capability in eight years. Considering that China is a new entrant in this field this fast track development has far reaching implications. A question that arises is: how did China achieve so much in so little time? There has been, perhaps, a take off point for the Chinese Navy. According to experts the development of China’s submarine arm has been more incremental than radical. In 2003 an entire Ming class crew died due to asphyxiation. In 2004 a Han class submarine was successfully detected and tracked by Japanese anti-submarine forces. A publicly released US Office of Naval Intelligence assessment dated August 2009 hinted that China was not moving aggressively to build beyond the two initial nuclear platforms envisaged. In addition, the forces the Chinese submarine arm faces are formidable and experienced. Therefore, it can be safely assumed that the present gap in underwater capabilities has led to an emphasis on unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). According to a researcher from the Beijing Academy of Naval Armaments, Chinese naval strategists are emphasizing the development of unmanned systems as they place the mission at the core rather than the human element, they have relatively simple construction, are highly flexible and are impervious to the most arduous combat conditions.

UUV research in China has been on for almost three decades. Since the 1980s a number of UUVs have been constructed. One such UUV, CR-01, co-developed with Russia, has apparently been successfully used as an exclusive economic zone platform. It is believed that research for using UUVs as nodes for information networks using acoustic communication methods is being conducted.

Very little is known about the stages of research and success rates of the UUVs built. However, if one were to couple this research with the procurement of remotely-operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) for commercial purposes from European companies, then we are looking at a steadfast approach for design and construction of UUVs meant for military purposes. This would include a number of strategic and tactical purposes.

• Intelligence gathering
• Mine laying and clearance
• Laying and monitoring of sensor chains in areas of interest, with UUVs themselves used as sensor chains
• Disruption and monitoring of communications carried by submarine cables
• Striking at strategic and tactical targets by remote launched weapons or expendable UUVs
• Communication link especially in mid-ocean areas not under human surveillance
• Monitoring of shipping especially choke points

The futuristic implications for India are tremendous. Once the Chinese achieve the capability of producing UUVs with deep depth capability, they could surround India by placing these submersibles at strategic places. Apart from Chinese ports these submersibles could also be loaded on both merchant and naval ships at friendly foreign ports in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal and launched mid-ocean and near choke points. This would achieve a dual objective: firstly, monitor all merchant shipping and thereby enhance protection of ships flying the Chinese flag; and secondly, monitor movements of Indian Naval and Coast Guard ships and assess exercises conducted by them. This would vastly erode the advantage of intrinsic mobility of naval operations in a fluid medium. All this adds up to increasing Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) to a great extent and MDA is vital for a nation’s maritime security and economic health.