“The key concern is whether the Chinese would try to interdict these vessels using physical means or at least via electronic jamming,” Koh said, who is also a senior fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.
“Knowing that these vessels are unmanned and hence zero risk to Filipino personnel safety, the Chinese might be more inclined to interdict them.”
Australian-based defence and security analyst Max Montero added that the T-12 can also be used for “target guidance for munitions, and with the appropriate equipment it is said to be able to conduct limited anti-submarine surveillance or detection.”
“They are unarmed, but it does not stop the end user to even use it as a suicide drone equipped with explosives,” he told This Week in Asia.