China Tests Unmanned 'Swarm' Boats

China has tested a ‘Swarm’ of 56 unmanned boats in Wanshan Archipelago near South China’s Guangdong Province.

The unmanned boats reportedly avoided islands and reefs, crossed bridge tunnels, made turns and changed their formation while navigating through the area. The formation also formed the shape of an aircraft carrier and the slogan "civil-military" on the march, reported Shanghai-based news website thepaper.cn on Monday.

It showcased China's technological capability in autonomous swarming by unmanned boats, and marked an important step toward military deployment of such vessels, the website said.

These unmanned swarm boats could be used in future tasks like escort, mine sweep, anti-submarine and anti-ship operations, electronic warfare, intelligence gathering and amphibious operations, with high efficiency, thepaper.cn reported.