It would be useful against the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation: Taiwan has developed the Smart Dragon underwater drone with torpedoes

Taiwanese military industry has released the Smart Dragon underwater drone with torpedo tubes, which would be needed against the Black Sea Fleet.

Photos of an underwater drone with the designation Huilong or Smart Dragon of Taiwanese development were made publicly available. The device is just undergoing maintenance after the next stage of road tests. The War Zone writes about it.

Military enthusiasts have captured photos of Taiwan’s domestically developed “Huilong” unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) with torpedo tubes, revealing potential combat capabilities. pic.twitter.com/uBZ3AAGbCN

— TaiwanPlus News (@taiwanplusnews) October 24, 2024

The main weapon element of the Smart Dragon — two torpedo tubes for launching torpedoes or mines.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

It is reported that work on the creation of the Smart Dragon underwater drone began in 2020. This is a rather large device: with a displacement of 100 tons, a body length of 30 meters and a width of 30 meters — 6 meters.

Ukrainian analysts from Defense Express note that, according to the Ministry of Defense of Taiwan, the Smart Dragon does not have its own power plant, and it can go to sea only under tow.

” But at the same time, on the body of the underwater vehicle, you can see control rudders and other elements indicating the opposite, namely: this is a fully autonomous unmanned submarine,” — goes on in the publication.

There is one more detail. Taiwan's military says it is working on the Smart Dragon for “research missions,” such as testing sonar equipment. But another “inconsistency” is why there are torpedo tubes on an underwater drone. The authors of the publication assume that the Smart Dragon can accommodate 2-4 crew members.

Taiwan is betting on creating a “classic” submarine fleet. In addition, this type of underwater vehicle was appropriate in the Defense Forces of Ukraine, to counter surface ships and submarines of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation.