TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Navy will leave the task of tracking and removing mines to uncrewed vessels, reports said Saturday.

They will replace the nation’s six remaining minesweepers. Four of the Yung Feng-class ships joined the Navy from Germany in 1991, while two Yung Ching-class minesweepers were built in the US in the 1990s, per CNA. 

A plan to acquire new ships from a Taiwan manufacturer was canceled after the company became involved in a scandal.

The Navy on Saturday displayed the use of the PB3, an uncrewed underwater vehicle designed to destroy mines, the Liberty Times reported. Officers on board the minesweeper first track down suspicious objects on sonar. Once they find something, they will send in the remote-controlled PB3, which is armed with two explosive charges.

If the object does turn out to be a mine, they can neutralize it using different methods depending on the type of mine. The vessel can cut the cable of a moored mine, explode a charge, or simulate the sound of a larger ship to detonate the mine.

The PB3, nicknamed the “Penguin,” weighs 1,100 kilograms, can reach a depth of 200 meters and a distance of 600 m from the minesweeper, according to the Liberty Times. The vessel is equipped with sonar and a camera to transmit information to the Navy ship.

Uncrewed ships and submarines are expected to play a major role if China tries to launch a blockade of Taiwan.