--- title: "China Working on Super-Fast Submarines Powered by Lasers" description: "In China, scientists are developing technology that uses lasers to propel submarines nearly as fast as a jet engine. " date: "2024-04-22" modified: "2024-04-22" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-laser-submarine" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "china" - "lasers" - "submarines" - "the digest" --- # China Working on Super-Fast Submarines Powered by Lasers ![In China, scientists are developing technology that uses lasers to propel submarines nearly as fast as a jet engine. ]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Sub Pop In China, scientists say they're developing technology that uses lasers to propel submarines nearly as fast as a jet engine. As the [*South China Morning Post* reports,]() engineers at the Harbin Engineering University in Heilongjiang province — where, notably, China's [first experimental submarine]() was developed — claim that the country's military is close to achieving this colossal feat. The idea behind the burgeoning technology is ingenious: lasers generate plasma underwater, which then creates a so-called "detonation wave" to propel a submarine vessel forward. As the *SCMP* notes, Japanese researchers first proposed this sort of laser propulsion methodology 20 years ago, and in China, scientists have been trying to figure out how to hack it for [at least a decade](). Until now, attempts at making laser propulsion happen have been for naught, as scientists found it nearly impossible to generate a force that would push submarines in one specific direction. But now, the Harbin researchers say they think they've cracked the code. Submarines using this technique would, as the engineers say in a recent paper in China's *Acta Optica Sinica* journal, be coated in thin optical fibers — each thinner than a strand of human hair, the *SCMP* notes — that would emit laser power. The researchers claim that this method would be able to produce up to 70,000 newtons of thrust, which is a bit less than a commercial jet engine, using only two megawatts of laser power. ## Sound Off Aside from propelling a submarine forward, the directed laser energy would also result in what's known as "supercavitation," which occurs when bubbles coat the surface of an underwater projectile and increase its velocity. Theoretically, this could make a sub travel faster than the speed of sound — and hide it from sonar because, without mechanical power, it doesn't produce any mechanical noise vibrations, either. News of this theoretical advancement comes after reports from last year indicating that the United States is concerned about [losing the so-called submarine arms race]() to China, which has [invested big]() in researching new underwater weapons technology. While the concept of laser-propelled submarines sounds a bit "Star Wars"-esque, the weaponization — literally — of such tech is enough to give one pause. "This method can also be applied to underwater weapons, causing a supercavitation phenomenon, thereby significantly increasing the underwater range of projectiles, underwater missiles, or torpedoes," project leader Ge Yang wrote in the paper, as quoted by the *SCMP*. **More on China:** [*Report: Thanks to AI, China's Data Centers Will Drink More Water Than All of South Korea by 2030*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()