The Philippine Navy (PN) said Tuesday, Jan. 7, that it will take up to two months to complete the forensic analysis conducted on a submersible drone discovered off the coast of San Pascual, Masbate last week.
The drone marked “HY-119”, which is suspected to be of Chinese origin, was found by local fishermen in shallow waters in Barangay Inarawan last Dec. 30, and turned over to the navy the following day for analysis.
“A six- to eight-week forensic analysis is ongoing to determine its origin, its purpose, and technical specifications. The analysis will examine the object's physical structure, electronic components, power source and any possible stored data,” PN spokesperson Commander John Percie Alcos said.
The recovered drone had a bright yellow color and is torpedo-shaped with fins. It is about 3.5 meters in length, 24 centimeters in diameter, and weighs 94 kilograms.
The PN said that bright color drones (such as yellow, red or orange) are typically used for scientific research or fishing purposes such as tracking schools of fish as they are designed to be easily visible from the air.
Based on initial observation, the drone may be a submersible one that is used for scientific research or fish tracking, although alternative perspectives “point to possible military applications,” Alcos said.
And if the physical description of the equipment is to be looked at, the navy said it was likely launched from a surface vessel.
“The absence of any attachments for airdrop capability would rule out an air launch platform. Since the wings are not foldable, then we could rule out a submarine launch method for this. So most likely, this was launched from a mothership, a mother craft. It is not large enough to travel far distances. Kailangan ito ng isang mother ship (it needs a mother ship),” said Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, PN spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS).
The PN also refused to confirm that the drone was from China, although Trinidad said its markings “HY-119” may indicate the origin of the manufacturer based on open sources. According to a report from Naval News, the drone is a “Chinese-made ‘Sea Wing’ glider, an underwater vehicle developed by Chinese Institution of Oceanology.”
“These do not amount to anything. We need hard scientific evidence to say where this came from and what are the other parameters surrounding its presence,” Trinidad said defiantly.
Further, the admiral is not convinced that the detection of several Chinese research vessels and foreign fishing vessels in the country's eastern seaboard last year was connected with the dicovery of the drone.
To ensure that nothing unusual is going on in the country’s waters with the concerning discovery, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is currently developing measures and countermeasures to secure and to protect the Philippines’ maritime domain in partnership with treaty allies and other partner nations, including in the field of autonomous and unmanned systems.
'Concerning discovery'
Meanwhile, Trinidad denied allegations that the navy is downplaying the discovery of the suspected Chinese drone.
“The AFP is on top of the situation and taking this seriously. A lot of speculation has been going on but let me state that speculation is no substitute for evidence,” he said.
Specifically, Trinidad said the forensic analysis will determine if their initial finding is indeed accurate – that the recovered drone was used for gathering bathymetric data such as water temperature, the depth of water and salinity.
“In today's world, that information crisscrosses different dimensions. What is useful for academic purposes, for commercial purposes, for scientific research also has military applications. That will include undersea warfare,” he noted.
“We are concerned that we have this unusual equipment in our waters. It speaks a lot about our capability to secure and to protect our maritime domain,” he added.
According to the navy, it was not the first time that they have discovered an equipment like a submersible drone off the country’s waters.
“This kind of equipment is difficult to detect. It is not the first time that we have come across or received reports, bits and pieces or specimens of equipment like this,” Trinidad admitted, saying parts from a suspected similar equipment were previously found off the country’s northern islands and the eastern seaboard, such as Masbate.
In August and September 2024, the admiral said two drone parts had been recovered in the country’s waters and were turned over to the navy for analysis.
“We're trying to look at the bigger picture and correlate their numbers,” Trinidad said.