Underwater drones discovered in Philippine waters may have originated from China, local navy official claims

An official of the Philippine Navy has said that some of the unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) of unknown origin that were recovered from various parts of the Philippines between 2022 and 2024 were most likely manufactured in China.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, April 15, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, the navy's spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, said that three of the recovered UUVs were confirmed via forensic analysis as having Chinese markings.

Trinidad said that the UUVs featured conductivity, temperature, and depth sensors as well as acoustic vector sensors. Some have been determined to be commercial off-the-shelf components.

Some of the drones had their markings already defaced at the time that these were discovered. Trinidad remarked that this may have been done to conceal the identities of the operators or to prevent reverse engineering.

One UUV featured an iridium transceiver with the markings of HWA Create Corporation, a Beijing-based company that serves customers in the industrial, government, and defence sectors.

The battery assembly of another drone carried the markings of CETG Corporation, a Chinese state-owned enterprise specialising in seabed terrain mapping systems.

Trinidad clarified that some of the recovered UUVs did not bear Chinese markings.

Areas where the UUVs were found include the Babuyan Islands and Ilocos Norte province in the north of the country, Misamis Oriental province, and Masbate province where one of the most recent sightings occurred in late December.

Rene De Castro, a security analyst and professor at the Philippines' De La Salle University, had earlier reiterated that the UUV found off Masbate is a military-grade craft that had likely been used by China for seabed terrain mapping in Philippine waters prior to its discovery.