China has conducted the first run of an unmanned surface vehicle in its latest move to build up a blue-water navy that can support its maritime security.

The vessel is seen as an important part of protecting China’s maritime interests, managing the use of water resources and achieving its ambition of becoming a blue-water navy that can operate globally, the university said in a statement on its website.

Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Maritime Security Programme at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said unmanned surface vehicles were useful both in peacetime and in war.

In maritime law enforcement, they could be used to investigate at close range potentially dangerous situations at sea and allow for contact and responses to be made without putting personnel at risk.

“In the South China Sea, the vehicles may even potentially become a point of harassment against foreign vessels,” Koh said, adding that they could also be used to conduct saturation attacks and can be deployed in large numbers.

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