The Chinese have begun testing an inconspicuous ship similar to the famous American destroyer Zumwalt. According to experts, we may be talking about a technology demonstrator.
The original novelties of the Chinese military-industrial complex have long ceased to be something out of the ordinary, but the ship shown now can surprise even the most sophisticated audience.
The photo was posted on Twitter. Most likely, we are talking about a new military ship built using stealth technology.
There is no confirmed data about him. H.I. Sutton, a well-known military observer and specialist in the field of naval forces, presented his conclusions. According to him, it is unlikely that this is a full-size ship. No one doubts the potential of the Chinese defense industry, but the construction of a large ship would be difficult to hide.
Perhaps we are talking about an experimental vessel designed to work out certain technologies that can then be used in the creation of "large" ships.
At first glance, the vessel is difficult to distinguish from the famous American destroyer Zumwalt. Meanwhile, according to Sutton, it may have outriggers installed in the stern. There is something similar on the American unmanned ship Sea Hunter.
New ship
Image source: navalnews
The "American" is relatively small: its total displacement is 145 tons with a length of 40 meters. The vessel is classified as an unmanned surface ship of Class III and designated as an unmanned surface ship of medium payload (Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle, MDUSV). It is assumed that such vessels will be able to search for and escort enemy submarines.
It is difficult to say whether in this case the Chinese followed the path of developers from the United States, but it is known that the Celestial Empire has been developing unmanned ships for a long time. A few years ago, Beijing began testing an unmanned JARI-USV boat capable of carrying a wide range of weapons and performing a variety of tasks (at least in theory).
It is also noteworthy that the Dambiev telegram channel described the novika shown now as a "diving patrol ship".
Work in this direction is actively carried out in Russia. Recently it became known that the design bureau "Rubin" has developed a new version of the diving patrol ship "Guardian". Its armament includes a small-caliber automatic cannon, two launchers for guided missiles and four torpedo tubes of 324 mm caliber.
