China's 055万吨 large destroyer almost "scooped up" the U.S. Navy's large unmanned combat vessel! On August 14, 2025, local time, U.S. media, "Breaking Defense," reported. At the same time, the U.S. side also released images of China's 055万吨 large destroyer taken by the U.S. unmanned vessel. In the footage, China's 055万吨 large destroyer directly approached the U.S. unmanned vessel. This incident occurred in June 2025, during joint military exercises between the Chinese Navy's Liaoning aircraft carrier battle group and Shandong aircraft carrier battle group in the Second Island Chain and Third Island Chain, when an unmanned vessel built by a U.S. company for the U.S. Navy encountered China's 055万吨 large destroyer about 500 kilometers northwest of Guam.

Snapshot of the report from U.S. media, "Breaking Defense"

The U.S. company was very worried that this unmanned vessel might be "scooped up" by China's 055万吨 large destroyer. According to reports, China's 055万吨 large destroyer monitored the U.S. unmanned vessel for more than 20 minutes, coming within just a few meters, and even the U.S. unmanned vessel could clearly capture images of China's 055万吨 large destroyer. The U.S. company stated that at that time, the U.S. unmanned vessel was on its way from San Diego port in the U.S. mainland to Japan, and was in autonomous navigation mode. Although it was concerned about being scooped up, the U.S. company said that China's 055万吨 large destroyer only tracked the U.S. unmanned vessel without taking further actions. Meanwhile, the U.S. drone did not sound an alarm or trigger a warning. The U.S. company found out later by reviewing the footage.

Footage of the 055万吨 large destroyer captured by the U.S. unmanned vessel

The U.S. company found out afterwards, which means the vessel was discovered and tracked for more than 20 minutes, but the vessel itself did not realize it was being followed by China's 055万吨 large destroyer. In short, China's 055万吨 large destroyer spotted the U.S. unmanned vessel, while the U.S. unmanned vessel did not see China's 055万吨 large destroyer. China's 055万吨 large destroyer is likely a member of the Liaoning aircraft carrier battle group, which was near Guam at that time. Next time, we can directly retrieve it. After all, the U.S. company didn't even know about it. Then we can say, "I didn't know either. I thought this ship was floating around, called out several times but no one responded, so no one wanted it." "I thought it was a wild ship that no one wanted." In short, the U.S. unmanned vessel's dash cam doesn't have a sentinel function. Although it didn't detect the Chinese navy, it inadvertently took photos of the 055万吨 large destroyer.

Footage of the U.S. unmanned vessel sailing in U.S. waters

From a tactical perspective, as an invisible warship, the China Navy's 055万吨 large destroyer must have stealth capabilities. The U.S. unmanned vessel did not trigger an alarm, and the China Navy's 055万吨 large destroyer could detect such a small unmanned vessel in the Pacific, which is closely related to the powerful stealth and perception capabilities of the 055万吨 large destroyer. The 055万吨 large destroyer demonstrated an extremely strong perception capability, missile capacity, and stealth ability!

From the footage, this U.S. unmanned vessel is not too large in size

It is claimed that this unmanned vessel can operate autonomously

Regarding the incident where China's 055万吨 large destroyer almost "scooped up" the U.S. unmanned vessel, on August 14, the CEO of the U.S. company, Mike Flannigan, stated, "Although China's 055万吨 large destroyer did not interfere with the U.S. unmanned vessel, the entire incident raised many thoughts." "In the Black Sea and the Middle East, there are a lot of unmanned vessels in operation, including suicide attacks and explosive attacks. The future global community needs to consider how to deal with unmanned vessels." "Russian Navy sailors in the Black Sea have to deal with Ukrainian forces' remotely controlled suicide unmanned vessels, while the Ukrainian Navy has not used a single person." "In the Pacific, a U.S. unmanned vessel worth $250,000 was only a few meters away from a Chinese Navy destroyer (the 055万吨 large destroyer) worth $900 million."

The U.S. Navy has already deployed unmanned vessels in Japan and the Ryukyu Islands

The CEO of the U.S. company, Mike Flannigan, is clearly trying to get the upper hand. China's 055万吨 large destroyer did not scoop up the U.S. unmanned vessel near Guam, because it did not want to provoke a conflict. If it were in the South China Sea or East China Sea, try it yourself, and even if the Chinese Navy does not scoop it up, Chinese fishermen will take it away for you.

The Ukrainian Navy has indeed used unmanned vessels to severely damage the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet

The Chinese Navy is different from the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The Chinese Navy has a large number of drones supporting it, and there are also 730/1130 close-in weapons systems, high-caliber machine guns, and a variety of advanced optical, electronic, and radar detection equipment on board. How can the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet compare to the Chinese Navy's capabilities? In this case, the Chinese Navy's 055万吨 large destroyer facing the U.S. unmanned vessel is like a watermelon finding a sesame seed in the vast sea and following it, while the sesame seed didn't see the watermelon. From the information publicly disclosed by the U.S., it can be analyzed that the Chinese Navy detected the presence of U.S. unmanned vessels in the waters near Guam, and after professional analysis confirmed they were harmless, they may have conducted simulated drills against the unmanned vessels, and finally confidently took a photo as a memento.

Unmanned vessels can help smaller navies in maritime power struggles

If it had been identified as a U.S. Navy reconnaissance unmanned vessel, it would have been directly scooped up. Unmanned vessel operations indeed need our attention. The asymmetric warfare between Russia and Ukraine has cost the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet dearly. We can also use drones and unmanned vessels to counter the U.S., Japan, and NATO allies.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538638001463738915/

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