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The Zhuhai-based company Yunzhou Tech has unveiled the terrifying new technology, which operates without humans at the helm. The drone ships or unmanned surface vessels (USVs) were developed
with a "swarm" capability geared towards rapidly intercepting "invasive targets". According to the state-run news service Global Times, the drone ships work without
human input and "make decisions completely on their own". Yunzhou Tech's drone ships already serve a wide range of purposes, from maritime rescue missions to research
endeavours and public light shows. But the company now appears to be branching out to embrace military applications. Cheng Liang, general manager of Yunzhou Tech, told China News:
"Overall, we are in the top tier with the US. Perhaps we are ahead of others." According to Global Times, the new swarming capabilities will help bolster China's
"maritime development and rights protection" while also helping to guard "Chinese sea territory". READ MORE: RUSSIA OUTSMARTED AS UK HANDED WAY OUT OF PUTIN'S ENERGY
CRISIS A video clip published by Yunzhou Tech showcases six of the USVs coordinating an attack on a "target" vessel at sea. And the company is looking to expand its fleet with the
development of a "mothership", according to Global Times. The new vessel will be "the world's first mother ship to realize the coordinated operation of aerial, surface
and underwater unmanned systems". And China is not the only nation developing unmanned technologies with potential military capabilities. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL) in Laurel, Maryland, have demonstrated similar capabilities off the coast of California - nearly five years ago. In a large-scale test carried out with
the Surface Targets Branch of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in California, six USVs were deployed in a simulated patrol scenario. The USVs hit speeds of 35 knots (40.27mph)
and executed all manoeuvres without human input. Jim Horris, APL program manager for Autonomy Test and Evaluation said: "To our knowledge, this represents the first time that six
autonomous vessels have ‘swarmed’ at tactically relevant speeds. DON'T MISS... UK GROWTH BEATS CHINA FOR FIRST TIME IN 40 YEARS [LATEST] EVERGRANDE SET FOR COLLAPSE CAUSING
'RESET' WORSE THAN 2008 [INSIGHT] DOZENS OF CHINESE MILITARY AIRCRAFT DESCEND ON TAIWAN AIRSPACE [REPORT] "And the joint team implemented a full safety protocol without the
need for additional safety boats." And according to the APL, the USVs all demonstrated "autonomous behaviours such as cooperative persistent search, target detection and tracking,
rendezvous, pursuit and escort". Earlier this year the US Navy and Department of Defense (DoD) also published a video demonstrating the latest addition to the nation's growing
fleet of "ghost ships". The USV Ranger was filmed just off the US coast as it fired a single SM-6 missile into the sky. The US ghost ships are being developed DoD's Strategic
Capabilities Office (SCO) as part of the Ghost Fleet Overlord Program. According to the DoD, "such innovation drives the future of joint capabilities". The Royal Navy has been
pursuing its own USVs for some time now, and according to security experts, the technology could become available before the decade is out. According to the Ministry of Defence's Future
Operating Environment 2035 paper, automated systems "offer almost unlimited potential" for the armed forces and, more crucially, could help lower the number of casualties in times
of conflict.