China seizes US naval drone in South China Sea

A Chinese Navy warship has seized an underwater drone deployed by an American oceanographic vessel in international waters in the South China Sea, triggering a formal diplomatic protest from the US and a demand for its return, a US defence official said.

The "naval glider" was used to test water salinity and temperatures to help in the mapping of underwater channels, the official said before adding "it was taken" by China in international waters about 50 miles off Subic Bay.

The incident took place on Thursday just as the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, was about to retrieve the unmanned, underwater vehicle (UUV), the official said.
 [aljazeera.com]
16/12/16