The Japanese Government has confirmed that it intends to develop a new type of quantum magnetic sensor compact enough to be installed on small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The sensor will be capable of detecting minute changes in the Earth's magnetic field caused by the movement of submarines while underwater in a given area.
The government has included the project's R&D phase in its defence budget request for FY2027. The project has a scheduled completion of FY2031, local news outlet Nikkei reported recently.
The use of magnetic sensor-equipped UAVs operating near the surface of the ocean is being touted as a low-cost means of submarine detection compared to the deployment of manned aircraft and other traditional platforms.
The government intends to use the sensor-equipped UAVs alongside sonobuoys and sonar-equipped ships for anti-submarine warfare.
Defence expert Masashi Murano said the sensors' effectiveness would be limited by their short detection ranges, making them impractical for tracking submarines across large areas, though he admitted that this limitation can be somewhat offset by deploying sensors in large numbers via low-cost drones.
