The new ‘supercavitation’ methodology could see the vehicles travel at rates up to 3,600 mph underwater. 

Team of Chinese scientists claim to have moved closer to developing a supersonic submarine, which could complete the journey from Shanghai to San Francisco in less than two hours.

China moves closer to developing supersonic submarine: Report

Researchers from the Harbin Institute of Technology say they have developed a way to make a submarine — or torpedo — to travel at extremely fast speeds underwater.

Li Fengchen said his team of scientists can now create the complicated air "bubble" required for fast travel undersea.

This bubble gets rid of the drag created by water, which slows down travel.

As Russia and U.S. Struggle, China Rejoices

A process called "supercavitation" allows a submerged vessel to travel inside an air bubble to overcome problems with drag.

Li Fengchen says although this technology has been known about for some time, scientists have now developed a way of steering and overcoming the problem of a craft having to be launched at high speed by using a liquid membrane, which would control how fast the submarine would travel and direction.

"Our method is different from any other approach," he said.

Rudderless control could bring supersonic submarines from sci-fi to reality