Could a single unmanned weapon precipitate a strategic crisis for the U.S. Navy? Recent advances in China’s and Russia’s uncrewed underwater vehicles make that possibility anything but hypothetical. These systems, ranging from bio-inspired surveillance drones to nuclear-powered autonomous torpedoes, are poised to challenge America’s long-standing undersea dominance. The risks extend well beyond fleet engagements to seabed infrastructure, critical chokepoints, and even the credibility of U.S. deterrence.
Over the last ten years, Beijing and Moscow have invested significantly in technologies that will evade detection, operate autonomously, and strike with precision in contested waters. The U.S. is fielding its next-generation UUVs, but analysts warn the capabilities of adversaries are maturing more quickly than America’s countermeasures. The following examines nine critical developments that shape the undersea battlespace and why they demand urgent attention from naval planners.
1. China’s ‘Ghost Jellyfish’ Surveillance Drone
The so-called “underwater ghost,” developed at Northwestern Polytechnical University, mimics the propulsion of a jellyfish using electrohydraulic muscle actuators and hydrogel materials. Powered by a meager 28.5 milliwatts, it can glide nearly silently, dodging sonar to reconnoiter in secret. With AI chips and cameras, it could recognize objects underwater, such as coral reefs or sunken ships-a perfect fit for deep-sea monitoring in sensitive ecological areas. Its realistic appearance makes it difficult to locate, though it also risks predation from marine animals.
2. Manta Ray-Inspired Silent UUVs
Chinese prototypes of manta rays use undulating fins instead of propellers, further reducing acoustic signatures and allowing dives beyond 1,000 meters for more than 24 hours. Putting such endurance together with stealth enables persistence in surveillance or strike missions. A 470-kg soft robotic manta ray, for instance, has collected data in the South China Sea, underlining Beijing’s ambition to bring biomimicry into military-grade UUVs.
3. AJX002 Extra-Large Mine-Laying Drone
Up to 20 meters in length, China’s AJX002 XLUUV is optimized for covert mine deployment in chokepoints like the Taiwan Strait. Equipped with pump-jet propulsion for noise reduction, its modular bays could also carry torpedoes or cruise missiles. Capable of operating up to 1,000 nautical miles from home, it can enforce blockades without putting manned submarines at risk, hence constituting a serious area-denial threat to U.S. carrier strike groups.
4. Russia’s Poseidon Nuclear-Powered Torpedo
Publicly confirmed by President Vladimir Putin, Poseidon supposedly travels at 100 knots, dives to depths greater than 1,000 meters, and carries a multi-megaton nuclear warhead. Analysts say its principal mission is to create a radioactive tsunami against coastal targets. Fielding at least 30 units, Poseidon circumvents missile defenses, serving both as a strategic deterrent and a psychological weapon.
5. Threats to U.S. Undersea Sensor Networks
Chinese military writings highlight nodes of vulnerability within America’s IUSS and seabed arrays such as SOSUS. According to Ryan Martinson at the U.S. Naval War College, PLAN strategists support the use of UUVs, cyberwarfare, and even commercial vessels to sabotage or spoof sensors. Severing these “Achilles heel” nodes would have the effect of blinding U.S. anti-submarine warfare capabilities in the Western Pacific.
6. Seabed Sentry: A New U.S. Surveillance Tool
Anduril’s Seabed Sentry deploys a network of cable-less, AI-enabled nodes that can monitor the seabed for months. Equipped with Ultra Maritime’s Sea Spear sonar, these modules process data right at the edge, transmitting only key detections. Because they are modular and thus much quicker to redeploy, they become far more difficult to map and disrupt than fixed arrays. This system could extend U.S. surveillance into denied areas while protecting undersea infrastructure.
7. Orca XLUUV: America’s Modular Undersea Platform
The Orca is an 85-ton, 85-foot unmanned diesel-electric submarine built by Boeing, with a 6,000-nautical-mile range and 30-day endurance. While designed for clandestine mine delivery-its payload bay could host everything from surveillance drones to strike weapons-Capt. Matt Lewis stresses the importance of using the Orca first as a learning platform for how to operate in the complex three-dimensional undersea domain.
8. Mine Warfare in Taiwan’s Defense
Naval mines remain an inexpensive way to impede and disorganize amphibious assaults. According to RAND’s Scott Savitz, layered minefields might force PLA forces into kill zones, supplementing anti-ship missiles and drones. Influence mines equipped with programmable detonation counters and decoys would extend Chinese clearance operations, providing precious time for U.S. and Taiwanese forces.
9. Autonomous weapons and the Replicator Initiative
Initiated by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, Replicator is designed to field thousands of attritable autonomous systems across domains. In maritime contexts, fully autonomous UUVs might conduct operations in denied environments, emplacing smart mines or conducting surveillance operations without any human control or oversight. Though technological and legal hurdles abound, such a capability might force Beijing to spread its defenses, complicating its operational calculus. China and Russia’s undersea innovations reshape the maritime threat environment, leveraging stealth, autonomy, and strategic geography.
From biomimetic surveillance drones to nuclear-armed torpedoes, these are capabilities targeted at both warships and the infrastructure that underpins naval operations. The U.S. response-through platforms like Orca, networks like Seabed Sentry, and initiatives like Replicator-marks progress, but the pace of adversary development demands sustained urgency. In undersea warfare, technological surprise favors the side prepared to detect, disrupt, and deter before the first strike is launched.
