Five underwater drones recovered in 2024 - navy

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Philippine Navy on Tuesday, Jan. 14, said five underwater drones are under forensic study and analysis, all of which were recovered by fisherfolk in different areas last year.

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said of the five submersible drones, two were found in Calayan Island, one in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, one in Initao, Misamis Oriental, and one in San Pascual, Masbate. https://www.newswatchplus.ph/news/2025/1/3/underwater-drone-masbate-nsc.html

“These are nautical highways, these are chokepoints, these have very good significant value when it comes to maritime traffic,” Trinidad noted of the locations of the drones, adding they were found close to shore.

The drone off Masbate coast was the most recent, just last Dec. 30, which the National Security Council previously said was a “security concern.”

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is concerned that there is such equipment in our maritime domain,” the navy official said at a briefing.

So far, only the drone recovered in Calayan Island had results from the forensic process, which could take six to eight weeks.

“These are designed to gather bathymetric data, specifically depth, salinity, oxygen level, temperature of the water,” Trinidad said of the drone.

“This information will have commercial value, it will have academic info, it could also have, with the criss-crossing of information right now, it could also have military purposes and applications,” he added.

There are no details about the possible owners of the drones, which had “similar but different” design, color, and other characteristics. Trinidad said the drones were “small,” from 2.5 to 3.5 meters in length.

Trinidad said the navy’s maritime domain awareness capability would help it track any mothership that could launch such drones.

He also acknowledged that the navy has “modest capabilities… when it comes to undersea warfare,” highlighting the “indispensable role” of local fishers.

“It’s difficult to detect these drones underwater but when they are on the surface, they become visible, they get picked up by our fisherfolk, they report to coast guard and police, and eventually to the AFP, the Philippine Navy,” Trinidad said.