– Seasats (6-year-old California company) deployed Lightfish drone
– Video taken June 16
– Verified by Reuters
– Chinese PLA Navy Type 052D guided-missile destroyer off Luzon Island
– Location: 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Luzon Island, within Philippines’ EEZ
– CEO Mike Flanigan quoted saying “We’re able to go out and film and get up close and record all this data off of a Chinese ship”
– Small drone costs about $240,000; destroyer worth billion dollars
– Philippine embassy statement about reminding parties to avoid escalation
– Company has had previous encounters with Chinese naval vessels
– Lightfish can be deployed from pickup truck, deployed and recovered in minutes
– Small, low profile allows navigation without detection
– Video shared with Reuters which independently verified authenticity
A small California-based drone maker says one of its sea vessels sailed close enough to a Chinese warship operating inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone to capture what it believes is the first footage of its kind recorded by a private U.S. firm.
Seasats, a six-year-old producer of autonomous surface vessels, said its Lightfish drone approached a People’s Liberation Army Navy ship off Luzon Island in waters where Beijing’s military presence has become a persistent source of regional tension — in this case, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Type 052D guided-missile destroyer.
It shared the video taken on June 16 with Reuters, which has independently verified its authenticity.
The location where the videos were filmed was verified as 105 km (65 miles) northwest of Luzon Island by reviewing Seasats data.
The Seasats footage is striking less for what it shows of the Chinese vessel than for what it reveals about the changing nature of war: a small drone that costs about $240,000 can get close to – and theoretically threaten – a billion-dollar warship.
“We’re able to go out and film and get up close and record all this data off of a Chinese ship,” Seasats CEO Mike Flanigan said.
Seasats said it has had multiple encounters with Chinese naval vessels over the years, including Type 052 destroyers, Type 055 destroyers and Type 056 corvettes.
The company said its vessels’ small, low profile often allows them to navigate without detection, though both the drone and the Chinese ship emit electronic signatures from their radars and other electronic scanning equipment.
The Lightfish is the smallest vessel in Seasats’ current lineup and can be deployed from the back of a pickup truck, small craft or boat ramp and launched and recovered in minutes.
The drone operates autonomously and can remain at sea undetected for extended periods due to its minimal electronic signature compared to larger surveillance vessels.
The Philippine Coast Guard reported an increased presence of Chinese maritime forces, including warships, in the area last year compared to 2024.
The Philippine embassy said it would “remind all parties to avoid actions that would escalate tensions, especially if found trespassing through the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington said it was not familiar with the situation and had nothing to share.
In the viral moment captured on June 16, the Lightfish drone navigated to within close proximity of the Type 052D destroyer while the warship operated inside the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.
The encounter underscores escalating tension over Chinese military activity in waters where Manila has repeatedly challenged Beijing’s presence.
The Philippines has been documenting incidents with Chinese vessels in the region as part of its effort to highlight what it views as unlawful incursions into its territorial waters.
Seasats announced the video’s release on July 29, marking a significant milestone in how private technology companies are monitoring geopolitical flashpoints in the Indo-Pacific.