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An inquiry has been started by Japan's Ministry of Defense into the loss of a 5-ton unmanned submarine worth $5 million. The sub was attached to a survey ship by a special cable but somehow came loose and was lost.
A search has been ongoing for nine days for the marine survey sub without any success. It was when the ship stopped receiving data through the attached cable that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) realized that the sub had been lost, somewhere in the Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hoakkaido islands on November 30. The Tsugaru Strait connects the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean. (Please note that the article does continue after the featured links). Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that the submarine was attached to the survey ship Nichinan and its aim was to collect temperatures and other data from the ship's surroundings in order to track movements of foreign submarines in the area.
According to a Japanese defense official the three- by two-meter submarine was intended “to survey the underwater terrain as well as water currents and temperatures." The lost submarine was of a class of unmanned underwater vehicles dubbed "underwater drones," as they are able to operate without a human occupant. Reportedly the Defense Ministry has small naval minesweepers to search in vain for the lost submarine for the last nine days, “to no avail.” "The ministry has set up a panel to investigate how [the vehicle] was lost," the defense official said. The Ministry did add that there is no risk of data leaks, as this data was not stored on the submarine itself. Of the four survey ships operated by JMSDF, the Nichinan was reportedly the only one equipped with a remotely operated vehicle.
Japan's navy loses unmanned submarine worth $5 million
A search has been ongoing for nine days for the marine survey sub without any success. It was when the ship stopped receiving data through the attached cable that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) realized that the sub had been lost, somewhere in the Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hoakkaido islands on November 30. The Tsugaru Strait connects the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean. (Please note that the article does continue after the featured links). Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that the submarine was attached to the survey ship Nichinan and its aim was to collect temperatures and other data from the ship's surroundings in order to track movements of foreign submarines in the area.
According to a Japanese defense official the three- by two-meter submarine was intended “to survey the underwater terrain as well as water currents and temperatures." The lost submarine was of a class of unmanned underwater vehicles dubbed "underwater drones," as they are able to operate without a human occupant. Reportedly the Defense Ministry has small naval minesweepers to search in vain for the lost submarine for the last nine days, “to no avail.” "The ministry has set up a panel to investigate how [the vehicle] was lost," the defense official said. The Ministry did add that there is no risk of data leaks, as this data was not stored on the submarine itself. Of the four survey ships operated by JMSDF, the Nichinan was reportedly the only one equipped with a remotely operated vehicle.
Japan's navy loses unmanned submarine worth $5 million
