The Chinese Want Robot Warships

D3000

This crudely made model of the D3000 gives us a vague idea of the concept: a trimaran tumblehome hull, with armament that includes autocannons and anti-ship missiles, as well as launching tubes for small unmanned underwater vehicles, torpedoes, or mines. by78

Popular Science: With the D3000, China enters the robotic warship arms race

It's triple-hulled, autonomous, and armed.

At the turn of the 20th century, the great powers competed to build the modern-day battleship. Today, a new arms race may be breaking out, this time with robotic warships.

The D3000 is a 98-foot-long, stealthy robotic trimaran warship designed to operate autonomously for months. Notably, this system—which appears to be tagged for export—is being offered by the China Aerospace and Science Technology Corporation, a Chinese defense contractor whose primary strength is in missiles and other aerospace technologies. (It's the company that's building the T Flight, China's answer to the Hyperloop.) CASC notes that the D3000 can either operate by itself, or as part of a larger task force with manned ships.

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WNU Editor: The Chinese are thinking big.