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Drones on the Water
The U650 amphibious UAV is the size of a Predator drone or Cessna
utility aircraft, but its carbon fiber construction saves weight, thus
increasing its buoyancy and fuel efficiency.
The U560 amphibious drone recently completed its first test flight
reports Liberation Daily News, a Chinese newspaper. Flying off of a
lake in Jiangsu province, the drone's flight took 30 minutes.
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Engines
The U650's propeller engine actually gives it a higher top speed than the Predator drone, making it highly competitive in providing shipborne aerial surveillance.
Built by Vita Smart Systems Limited, a private sector Chinese aerospace
firm, after
a three year research study, the U560 has a wingspan of 12
meters and is 6 meters long, roughly the size of a small utility
airplane like the Cessna 172 or the Predator B drone. Its lightweight,
98% carbon fiber fuselage enables the U560 to fly with a range of
2,000km on just 150 kilograms of fuel. It's also sturdy enough to take
off and land in rough maritime weather conditions.
Despite being amphibious, the U560's top speed of 260km per hour is
faster than the Predator's 217 km per hour maximum speed. Liberation
Daily News also noted that the U560 uses satellite communications,
datalinks and a measure of autonomy to fly reconnaissance missions with
minimal human input, such as using cameras and radar to patrol
preselected areas of water for submarine periscopes. The U650 is likely
derived from the S-100, another Vita Smart Systems Limited/UVS
amphibious drone that debuted at the 2014 Zhuhai Air Show (the U650's landing gear is retractable).
Wendell Minnick, Defense News
S100 Sea UAV
The S-100 is a nicely sized drone, it can even carry 240 kg of
cargo (translates into 4 Hellfire missiles). Since it takes off and land
from water just as easily as it does on land, it could be a real friend
to coast guards and small warships everywhere... and to non-state
actors on the high seas.
There is no real comparable amphibious drone in the US system. If the
PLAN picks up use of the U560, its large size and amphibious
takeoff/landing capabilities could offer Chinese surface warships a fast
off board reconnaissance capability, with quite different range and
capability than the helicopters, manned and soon unmanned that the US
Navy has on board its ships. For instance, a Type 052D guided missile
destroyer could hoist a U560 drone onto the water and send it off on a
longer range hunt for enemy submarines, warships and missile launchers,
or even conduct electronic warfare (much how World War II battleships
used seaplanes to scout ahead). The U560's amphibious and autonomous
capabilities also mean that it could be used to supply Chinese island
garrisons with a heavy UAV capability.
TERN
The Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) drone is a
DARPA project to build a medium UAV takes off like a helicopter, then
flips to fly like an airplane, off of small launch areas like surface
combatants' helipads. However, the U650 can son provide the Chinese
navy with a different platform that offers similar flexibility.
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