Defence chiefs launched a probe as suspected Chinese underwater drones were recovered in Philippine waters.

The Philippine Navy presented the torpedo-like 'spy drone' at a Senate hearing in Manila on April 23.

Footage shows officers carrying the missile-shaped structure to be presented to lawmakers in the Senate hall.

Ignacio Madriaga, undersecretary for the Department of National Defense, said the equipment was capable of gathering environmental data.

He said: 'Considering the strategic location of the Philippines, all available hydrographic information that can be gathered by any country would be of great advantage to them. Specifically, based on open source, this is gathering salinity, temperature, depth.

'It can conduct mapping of the subsurface. All of those are important for any countries that has subsurface capability, and subsurface warfare capability.

Navy spokesperson Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the recent discovery of the submersible in Masbate, an island province in the middle of the Philippine archipelago, was 'only the tip of the iceberg'.

He said: 'The Philippine Navy is now in possession of different types of drones like these which have been turned over to our laboratory for forensic examination. What is alarming about this is for the past two years, we have received a good number of reports. We have received reports of equipment being found ashore by our fishermen.'

Navy officials said it is now co-ordinating with the coast guard, maritime police, and relevant agencies on how to handle the Chinese drones in territorial waters.

The Philippines and China are embroiled in a bitter territorial conflict over parts of the South China Sea.

Expansionist China currently lays claim over almost the entirety of the waterway, one of the world's busiest sea lanes. But a United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 deemed its claims groundless.

The Communist rogue state - accused of genocide for its crimes against the Uyghur population - has been steadily increasing its influence in recent years through investment in developing countries.