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Chinese Team Sets World Record for Autonomous Underwater Drones: 116 Swarm for 34 Minutes
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News18•29-09-2026, 09:15
Chinese Team Sets World Record for Autonomous Underwater Drones: 116 Swarm for 34 Minutes
- •A Chinese team from Northwestern Polytechnical University, in collaboration with Xian Tianhe Maritime Technologies, set a Guinness World Record for deploying 116 autonomous underwater vehicles (TH-618s) simultaneously.
- •The drones operated with zero human intervention for 34 minutes, navigating over 500 meters in a 50-meter swimming pool under Guinness World Records officials' supervision.
- •This achievement marks a significant milestone in underwater intelligent equipment, demonstrating fully autonomous, long-duration, and stable coordinated navigation for a large swarm of underwater vehicles.
- •The development highlights China's rapid advancements in autonomous vehicle technologies, including drone swarms across land, air, and sea, amidst global geopolitical tensions.
- •The shift towards autonomous systems is evident globally, as seen in Ukraine's reported underwater drone attack on a Russian submarine, moving away from traditional manned platforms.
Key Questions Answered
The Guinness World Record was set by a team from Northwestern Polytechnical University in collaboration with Xian Tianhe Maritime Technologies.
The trial featured a swarm of 116 autonomous underwater vehicles known as TH-618s deployed simultaneously in a swimming pool.
The vehicles successfully executed autonomous underwater formation navigation with zero human intervention for 34 minutes over a distance of 500 metres.
