Intelligence (智水, Zhi Shui or Zhishui) class autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a class of little known underwater vehicle developed by Shipbuilding Engineering Institute (船舶工程学院) of Harbin Engineering University (HEU) for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The general designer of Intelligence Water AUVs is Mr. Xu Yu-Ru (徐玉如, July 1942-February 17, 2012).[1] [2] [3] [4]
The name of this class AUV, Zhi-Shui, is an abbreviation of Intelligent underwater robotic (Zhi-Neng Shui-Xia Ji-Qi-Ren, 智能水下机器人, with Zhi-Neng = Intelligent, Shui-Xia = Underwater, and Ji-Qi-Ren = Robotic). This class of AUV is developed based on the experience gained from Explorer AUV developed earlier, and the following models have been identified:
Zhishui-III has a similar appearance to earlier Explorer AUV, with a cylindrical body resembling a miniature submarine without the conning tower. Contrary to most other AUVs that are often powered by a single propeller, Zhishui-III is powered by twin propellers. The two shrouded propellers are installed just below the horizontal control surfaces of the crucifix control surfaces at the stern. Zhishui class AUV is claimed to be capable of performing a variety of tasks by the designers, but no details are released because it is designed for military application from the start, as opposed to other Chinese AUVs that are also used for civilian applications. Zhishui-IV is capable of operating in a depth of 1000 meters.[3]