/sci/ - Science & Math

>>4416897

Because, literally everyone is going to need (not want, need) those resources very soon. And they will want to secure rights to as big a piece of the pie as possible. Actually enforcing those borders will be a pain, I agree, but that will just mean military bases/torpedo emplacements near valuable sites.

Incidentally our Navy now has a six man long range stealth minisub that can be deployed from large airlock hangars being installed in older subs where the missile launch tubes used to be. Those hangars can deploy one sub, or a large number of divers. The sub has an onboard airlock and can, itself, deploy divers one at a time. It can also carry and fire two torpedos.

China is at this moment putting the Jiaolong submersible through it's paces. It is their first sub capable of reaching the entire abyssal plain and I doubt it is intended for purely scientific pursuits.