Experts say India is playing ‘steady catch-up’ in boosting undersea surveillance, while Southeast Asian nations’ capabilities differ widely
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenBiman MukherjiPublished: 7:27pm, 24 Apr 2026A suspected Chinese underwater drone hauled out of Indonesian waters this month has sharpened global focus on a security race that analysts say has been years in the making across South and Southeast Asia: undersea surveillance.The torpedo-shaped device was found near the Lombok Strait, one of the few deepwater channels through which submarines can transit submerged between the Pacific and Indian oceans and a passage closely watched by the United States and Australia.
Beijing said it did not have specific details on the case but noted that China conducted marine scientific research in accordance with international law and such equipment could drift into other countries’ waters due to malfunctions or other reasons.
Such devices could be used to map the seabed, collect oceanographic data, monitor naval traffic and identify routes or infrastructure that could matter in a crisis, analysts said.
Those concerns are likely to intensify as disruption around the Strait of Hormuz amid the war with Iran underscores the strategic importance of mapping and monitoring key waterways.
South and Southeast Asian countries have faced such undersea challenges for several years, rooted in growing Chinese naval and undersea expansion in the Indian Ocean, tensions in the South China Sea and naval rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region.
