China has begun to build the world’s largest test site for unmanned ships – a technology with both civilian and military applications – off a port in the disputed South China Sea, Chinese state media agency Xinhua said last Tuesday February 13th. The test area is being constructed off the southern port city of Zhuhai, bordering Macau.
The first of its kind to be built in Asia, Zhuhai’s unmanned vessel test site will cover about 770 sq km. Islands in the test zone will be equipped with GPS, sonar, communication instruments or photoelectric components to guide ships, said China’s Science and Technology Daily. No commissioning date has been announced.