5 drones with ‘Chinese markings’ found in Philippine waters: navy official

The drones were used to collect data for various applications, including for ‘underwater warfare’, a Philippine navy spokesman said

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Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, a Philippine Navy spokesman, said investigations were under way on five submersible drones recovered in the country’s waters from 2022 to 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:30am, 16 Apr 2025Updated: 12:22pm, 16 Apr 2025

Five aquatic drones of likely Chinese origin recovered in Philippine waters served to collect data for commercial and military applications including for “underwater warfare”, with a China Telecom SIM card and components tied to China’s defence industry found in them, a Philippine naval official said on Tuesday.

Three of the drones were recovered last year and the other two were found in 2022, all by local fishermen in areas the navy described as strategic chokepoints in the Philippines’ northern and southern waters.

During a press briefing on Tuesday, Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad spoke about the investigation by local and foreign experts into the drones. One of the drones recovered off Calayan Island in August was of particular interest to forensic analysts as it was “the most intact” and contained a China Telecom SIM card, he said.

“The information gathered [by the drone] focuses on mathematic data. It also collects information on sound propagation underwater. All of this information have uses commercially for scientific research, academic purposes, but they have also dual use for military use.”

“Based on the forensics of the SIM card, the last contact that it had was in mainland China,” Trinidad said in reply to a question from This Week in Asia. “That’s the only info we have.”

He said this third drone, like the first one recovered off Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, in 2022, had acoustic vector sensors. “They were designed not to be retrieved,” he said.