Chinese drone exposes Indonesia’s ‘insufficient’ undersea capabilities

The recent discovery of a Chinese underwater drone in Indonesia’s waters serves as a wake-up call for Jakarta to strengthen its undersea defence capabilities, analysts have said.Indonesia, however, is likely to remain silent on the find and resolve the issue through “quiet diplomacy”, according to observers.Last week, an Indonesian fisherman found a Chinese unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) in the Lombok-strait" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="108568" data-entity-type="location">Lombok Strait, a key waterway leading to Australia.Marked with the letters “CSIC”, the drone is thought to be linked to the China-shipbuilding-industry-corporation" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="119313" data-entity-type="organization">China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, and points to unauthorised undersea activity in one of Indonesia’s most critical maritime corridors.Located between Bali and Lombok, the waterway is closely watched by Australia and the United States.The discovery comes amid intensifying regional maritime competition where unmanned devices have conducted covert seabed mapping and acoustic intelligence-gathering.