China goes hybrid with drone that can swim and fly

China has developed a new hybrid weapon system that operates submerged as a submarine-shaped drone and then launches from the sea to fly in the air with large pop-up wings. A prototype of the flying submarine drone which can operate under the ocean and in the air has now been tested, according to the South China Morning Post. If a twin-role drone has been successfully developed it would be the first time that one of the three rival big powers - China, the US and Russia - has mastered the technology to produce a weapons platform that can withstand deep ocean pressures and flying at speed in the air. Water is 800 times more dense than air but the Chinese have designed special propeller blades than can generate a powerful thrust without the danger of the blades snapping. The key is to design a drone system that remains stable when it changes from underwater to airborne travel. The US Navy has tried for years to develop a manned vehicle capable of both submerged travel and airborne flight as a stealthy form of transport for special forces. It's called a "transmedium" system. In another US study a flying sea glider was designed that could be dropped from 30,000ft and dive beneath the surface of the water. The Chinese version of the flying submarine research programme which many countries have attempted over the past few decades, is reported to be capable of flying at 75mph after emerging from the water. Underwater it looks like a submarine drone with fins but as soon as it bursts from the water two large wings extend from the fins. The hybrid drone operates with four propellers. A weapon of this type with a dual underwater and airborne capability would have been designed to pose an additional threat to US aircraft carriers operating in the Indo-Pacific. A drone armed with electronic-jamming equipment suddenly emerging from beneath the water would be a challenge for warship radar systems. The prototype submarine drone has been developed and tested by a research laboratory at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Aeronautics in eastern China, the South China Morning Post said. Chinese scientists have also been working on underwater drones that can track and attack submarines. A test was reported to have been carried out in 2010 in the Taiwan Strait although this has never been confirmed.