The image of the Chinese UUV (Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle) mothership. From about a month ago.
“Large long-range UUVs can be used for many tasks, from mapping the sea floor to hunting submarines and ships to searching for mines to launching cruise missiles and drones to being turned into immensely destructive weapons in their own right that can circumvent traditional strategic defenses. For China, providing a credible threat to America’s outposts deep in the Pacific and even the U.S. seaboard would be on the table.”( TWZ)
The Chinese UUV (Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle) drone mothership is impressive but not as impressive as it could be. The system involves six elevators. That. Allows it to send drones. Into. Underwater missions. Those drones can be delivered from hatches at the bottom of the ship. It’s possible. to use that ship as a platform for testing undercover UUV motherships. Those new motherships can seem like regular merchant ships. They could deliver their drones underwater.
“The new image was taken in Guangzhou, and the vessel has a near-identical shape, but with smaller proportions and minor changes to its overall moldline, compared to the larger one in Shanghai. This new vessel appears to be about a third smaller overall than its counterpart. The lift towers number six in total. Instead. Of six larger ones. And. Six smaller ones. On the Shanghai vessel. Regardless, the major design features are all there, including the flight deck and hangar behind the forward superstructure, the location of the smokestacks, and so on.” (TWZ)
Larger drones can carry smaller drones.
The big question is. Why are those six towers fitted in that vehicle? Lift engines can be fitted in its structure without those towers. Are that vessel’s sea drones vertically in those tubes? And so they are delivered to the bottom of the ship. That ship can carry the computer center to coordinate drone swarms in and below the air.
Could those six towers be rather? Flettner-rotors for extra power? Than elevator towers? Those Flettner turbines that use the so-called Magnus effect to create extra energy. That increases the ship's operational time. The fact is that. The Flettner rotors can also act as smokestacks. And if those towers give extra energy. That allows the ship to provide an electric supply also for larger sea drones.
If. Those towers are Flettner turbines. Or some. Kind of ventilators for a heat exchanger that could tell. That maybe. Those ships can carry laser weapons. If they are heat exchangers. That means that ship can carry an extremely effective data center. Data centers need heat exchangers to control temperature. But in the same way. Things. Like directed energy weapons. Require systems to control their heat. They also need lots of electricity. So. The Flettner turbines can provide a solution for electricity. And the heat problems. The mothership also needs electricity for its drones.
“The larger but very similar in configuration UUV mothership that has now been launched in Shanghai. (Chinese Internet)” (TWZ)
Chinese submarine-drone mothership is an interesting tool. That large drone carrier could have six VAWTs (Vertical Axis Wind Turbines). In. That system is called Flettner rotors, or Flettner turbines. Those rotors provide electric power for the drones. And computers. That the drone carrier involves.
This new drone carrier carries computers. That. Support drones in their long-range operations. Those Flettner rotors can also create electricity for the electrolysis systems. Those systems can make hydrogen for fuel cells. Those fuel cells can provide power. For. Small drones that use electric engines.
By the way. Flettner turbines can provide power to ships' electric engines. But that system can use electrolysis systems. And those systems can create hydrogen. And. Ships can also use that hydrogen in their turbines. When. Ships must travel fast. The big drone motherships can also involve 3D printer systems. Those systems could offer spare parts. To. Ships, aircraft, and drones.
Underwater versions. Of wind generators and Flettner turbines can provide electricity even for large-sized remote installations. Those systems use water flows. In the sea to make electricity. But they are similar. To. Regular wind generators. The big difference between those systems and nuclear power is that the green energy doesn´t involve radioactive components.
Those systems are hard to turn against owners. When. Some small nuclear reactors are on a remote island. There is always a possibility that somebody tries to steal radioactive materials. In the same way.
“03 September 2025, China, Beijing: HSU100 uncrewed underwater drones ride along on military transporters at Tiananmen Square in Beijing during a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Photo: Johannes Neudecker/picture alliance via Getty Images/ picture alliance.” (TWZ)
RTGs (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators) are excellent as drone power sources. But the problem is that. What if somebody captures a drone? That RTG involves highly radioactive material. And in the wrong hands, that material is very dangerous. The small sea drone can carry heavy bazookas. Older systems can penetrate 560 mm armoured steel. They can damage even large warships.
The new green electric systems are interesting. They can provide small drones with similar operational time. As. Nuclear reactors do. When a small seadrone patrols, it can use the green energy source like a Flettner turbine. When. The drone comes near the target. It can release another drone that can use hydrogen fuel cells. Submarine drones can use a standing tube. The capillary effect pulls water upward. At the same time, it will spin the turbogenerator. That electricity can power small submarines.
The fact is that. A small drone can be very dangerous. Those drones can act as pathfinders. Damage radars and naval communication systems. Those systems can also try to damage fighters, other drones, and helicopters. Their mission is to open a path for a follow-up strike. That main attack is done. They use more expensive cruise missiles and hypersonic systems. The sea drones can use those smaller drones to mark targets for hypersonic missiles and other tools.
https://www.twz.com/sea/second-chinese-submarine-drone-mothership-emerges
https://smartservo.org/magnus-vawt-implement-en/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flettner_rotor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_effect
