Several US Navy officials recently claimed that their nuclear-powered submarine force will soon be equipped with unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) that can be launched and recovered via torpedo tubes, according to media reports. This new type of equipment will turn US attack nuclear submarines into "UUV carriers".
据报道，多名美国海军官员近日声称，美国海军核动力潜艇部队将在不久之后装备无人潜航器，并通过鱼雷管发射和回收。报道称，这种新式装备将使美国攻击型核潜艇变为“无人潜航器母舰”。
Military observer Zhou Weizheng pointed out that although the combination of nuclear submarine and UUV can perform a variety of combat missions, there is a problem of "difficulty in recovering" in real life. In addition, the US is still facing several technical bottlenecks in the development of UUV, making it difficult to apply in a large scale in the short term.
对此，观察员周伟政指出，虽然核潜艇与无人潜航器组合能够执行多种作战任务，但是这一组合在实际应用中存在“回收难”问题。另外，美军发展无人潜航器目前还面临若干技术瓶颈，短期内难以大规模应用。
Unmanned equipment is an important development direction of weapons and equipment nowadays, and the development of UUV is relatively difficult. Zhou believed that although the US has announced the breakthrough, there is still a long way to go before the actual application. The underwater environment is extremely complex. Various factors will not only affect and interfere with the recovery of UUV but may also pose a threat to the safety of nuclear submarines.
无人装备是当今世界武器装备的一个重要发展方向，其中无人潜航器的发展难度相对较大。他认为，虽然美国宣布已经取得突破，但是离实际装备应用还有相当长距离。水下环境极为复杂，很多因素不仅会影响、干扰无人潜航器的回收，还可能对核潜艇的安全构成威胁。
Some reports said that the new equipment will first be deployed in the US Navy's Pacific Fleet. In this regard, Zhou pointed out that it is not a smart move for the US military to deploy such immature equipment systems overseas. The deployment will threaten the safety of navigation in the relevant waters and escalate the arms races in the relevant areas.
有报道称，这种新式装备将首先在美国海军太平洋舰队部署。对此，周伟政指出，美军将这种不成熟的装备系统进行海外部署，不是明智之举，不仅会威胁相关海域的航行安全，还会挑动升级相关地区的军备竞赛。
Zhou believed that compared with the confrontation between ships and aircraft, the underwater confrontation of submarines is more intense, dangerous, and uncontrollable. In the underwater environment, the equipment, actions, and intentions of the other side are elusive, which can easily lead to misjudgments and unpredictable conflicts. The deployment of immature UUV by the US Navy to the Pacific Fleet and the Asia-Pacific region will threaten the military security of other relevant countries and force them to take countermeasures, and it will also lead to security accidents due to unreliable equipment.
周伟政认为，相较于舰艇、飞机的对抗，潜艇在水下的对抗更加激烈、危险、不可控。在水下环境中，对抗双方的装备、行动、意图都难以捉摸，很容易导致误判，引发不可预测的冲突。美国海军将尚不成熟的无人潜航器部署到太平洋舰队，部署到亚太地区，不但会威胁相关国家的军事安全，迫使对方采取应对举措，也会因为装备的不可靠，导致安全事故的发生。
Editor's note: Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
