New surface and underwater surveillance technology? Or not?

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Anthony Appleyard

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Today's (Monday 19 July 2021)'s issue of the Daily Telegraph British newspaper has on its page 1 (Drones to patrol wartime sea graves) and page 8 (Underwater drones to protect Navy sea graves from bounty hunters) two items about plans to protect against illegal salvaging of war-grave wrecks. It said that the wrecks of HMS Electra and HMS Exeter and HMS Encounter, sunk in the Battle of the Java Sea ( Battle of the Java Sea - Wikipedia ) "were found to have been almost completely cleared five years ago". The articles do not say what was taken or what damage was done; and does "five years ago" mean when the damage was discovered or when the damage happened?". The word "drones" raises in me this query: Apart from the well-known flying drones ( Unmanned aerial vehicle - Wikipedia ), what surface or underwater technology is involved? Only what is well known? Or is anything new to patrol underwater, being designed, publicly or in secret? What size of diving operation was likely the culprits? I have had occasional odd thoughts of an anonymous-looking old freighter lingering about with nothing unusual seen above the waterline, but a large underwater diver lockin-lockout and suchlike.
 
Seems like it would be easier to install a few cameras with a line to a buoy containing an uplink and a solar panel. It will require a LOT of drones to maintain presence while they go back "home" to recharge.
 
Running AUVs to keep a few divers off a wreck sounds expensive, although I guess it could be justified as a training/testing type mission.

Pillaging protected historic grave sites is abhorrent though.
 
I would think they would use arial drones rather than AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle). You can't salvage anything of significance without a substantial surface support operation. Drones can send images and alerts in real time where AUVs are far more limited.

Acoustic sensors would also be more effective than underwater video cameras. You can't take much of value without making a lot of noise that is easily distinguished from biological and natural ambient noise. Video cameras would be very labor intensive to monitor and has very limited range.
 
Or just watch via radar like other exclusion zones, unless those sites are too far offshore.
 
I did a little reading about the wrecks. I guess any items a normal diver might bring up have already been removed. Seems the main concern is the wrecks themselves being salvaged for low-rad metals. Someone took one of the wrecks in their entirety a few years back. That type of operation would probably take days, maybe weeks or months? Checking for that could probably be managed by a single daily AAV flight. Probably $10k would get the job done. Maybe double that for a backup.
 
Q1: (5 years ago) when the damage was discovered or when the damage happened?
I read it as when it was discovered. Likely it happened over a long time period, and many dives.​
Q2: Apart from the well-known flying drones what surface or underwater technology is involved?
Lots, but not for the purpose of scavenging wrecks.​
Q3: Only what is well known?
No way to tell, but not likely.​
Q4: Or is anything new to patrol underwater, being designed, publicly or in secret?
Yes​
Q5: What size of diving operation was likely the culprits?
Either massive (unlikely) or lots of dives/divers, a few at a time, over a long time period.
Many divers do not respect war graves or other protected sites. they take what they want, arguing that the sea will destroy it eventually anyway.
So much for leaving it for others to see and enjoy; it is a testosterones and ego-driven approach to diving.
 

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