In comparison to earlier Jiaolong where half of the components and technologies must be purchased abroad from foreign suppliers,[1] 95% of technology and components of Deep Sea Warrier are domestically built and developed in China,[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] with major subsystems including crew compartment, buoyancy material, lithium battery, propulsion system, deep water pump, mechanical arm, hydraulic system, acoustic communication system, control system and underwater positioning system have all successfully passed certification.[1]
The general designer of Deep Sea Warrior is Mr. Hu Zhen (胡震),[2] [6] [7] who has revealed that during the development of Deep Sea Warrior, the difficulties encountered was far greater than expected, particularly in the area of crew compartment design, buoyancy material, deep water pump, and propulsion system, so as a result, it took more than half a decade to complete the development of such subsystems, longer than originally planned three to four years.[2] However, the delay in development is well worth it when measured in the advancement made, for example, the lithium battery has a live of five years and can be used for five hundred times, in comparison to the silver-zinc battery that can only be used for fifty times,[6] resulting in overall cheaper operating cost of Deep Sea Warrior in comparison to earlier bathyscaphes using older technologies.[6] The navigation and positioning system onboard can position Deep Sea Warrior to accuracy of less a meter.[6] Currently, the motherships of Deep Sea Warrior is Chinese research vessel Explorer 1 (Tan-Suo 1, or 探索 – 号 in Chinese),[5] [7] and Explorer 2.[8] Specification:[1] [2] [3] [5] [6]