Three of the five submersible drones found in different parts of the country's waters since 2022 were likely deployed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to map out the Philippines’ underwater terrain, a Philippine Navy (PN) official bared Tuesday, April 15.
To date, the PN said there were five underwater drones that were discovered by fishermen and turned over to the Navy since 2022.
“There is a 55 to 80 percent likelihood that these were deployed by the Chinese Communist Party. Why 55 to 80 percent, it is because of the components inside. Not all of them have markings that they were made in China, others are available commercially off the shelf,” said Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, PN spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“They have the capability to receive, to process, to store, and to transmit data through satellite communications to a station on land, to a mothership, or to other drones,” he added. “This will have security implications considering the dual use of the information that they generate. This allows China to monitor the maritime environment through advanced information technology.”
On top of this, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deployed an Islander aircraft to monitor and challenge a Chinese research vessel off the coast of Batanes on Tuesday morning.
The research vessel was identified as "Zhong Shan Da Xue," and detected roughly 78.21 nautical miles northeast of Itbayat town.
"The crew of the PCG Islander attempted to establish radio communication with the vessel multiple times, but there was no response. PCG aviators underscored on their radio challenge that the said Chinese vessel lacks the authority to conduct marine scientific research within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines," said PCG spokesperson for WPS, Commodore Jay Tarriela.
Submersible drones
According to Trinidad, the first drone was recovered in July 2022 in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte; the second one in September 2022 off the coast of Zambales; the third and most intact one in August 2024 in Calayan Island, Cagayan; the fourth one in October 2024 in Initao, Misamis Oriental; and the last one in December 2024 in San Pascual, Masbate.
The five drones were subjected to a Level 1 forensic examination which means that all the physical characteristics of the drones were checked, including their characteristics, color, weight, dimensions, and any markings.
Trinidad said the first and third drones contained conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) sensors; and acoustic vector sensors (AVS) with Chinese markings. They also had an iridium transceiver or satellite transceiver with serial number “HWA-CREATE,” a China Telecom sim card, and integrated chips inside that were sanitized or were defaced.
The sim card had its last data transmission to mainland China, he noted.
“Some of the components had markings from China. Others had defaced markings to probably prevent reverse engineering or to hide the identity of the source,” he said.
According to Trinidad, “HWA-CREATE is a company that focuses on defense, civil, government, and industrial solutions, the headquarters of which is in Beijing.”
Meanwhile, Trinidad said the fourth drone had CTD sensors and its battery assembly had markings “8th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group (CETG), Corp., a state-owned enterprise for civil, military integration of information technology.”
He said the CETG Corporation is also responsible for the BOIN, Blue Ocean Information Network, “which is being used by the Chinese Communist Party in the South China Sea to study the underwater terrain.”
“The information that BOIN uses has multi-dual use purposes. They could also be used for military purposes,” Trinidad noted.
The Manila Bulletin reached out to HWA CREATE and CETG Corporation and will update this story once they respond.
Trinidad said the drones gathered bathymetric data, which included information on sound propagation underwater.
“All of this information how used commercially for scientific research, for academic purposes, they have also do well used for military use,” he said.
He said all data gathered by the underwater drones could be used across different fields including underwater warfare.
“Before you conduct any activity, you have to know the terrain, whether these are on the surface, on air, or below the surface. So conducting information gathering of the underwater terrain is an essential step for undersea warfare,” he explained.
Meanwhile, no data could be extracted from the second drone as it was severely damaged, while the results of the forensics on the fifth drone are yet to be analyzed.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) pointed out that no country should be conducting research, or deploying gliders within Philippines seas "without our consent."