China’s development of specialized naval auxiliaries designed to transport, launch and recover submarine-sized uncrewed vessels signals an assertive push to project autonomous undersea power beyond the First Island Chain and systematically challenge US submarine dominance in the Western Pacific.
This month,
multiple media outlets reported visual evidence showing that China has constructed a second dedicated mothership to deploy and service submarine-sized uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs), signaling an expanding bid to project autonomous undersea power beyond its coastal waters.
