The U.S. Navy is getting ahead of the game in the search for the Titanic sub that's gone missing ... sending a deep ocean lifting system in the hopes the vessel is found and can be retrieved.
According to a Navy spokesperson, the maritime force is deploying the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System -- along with experts in the field -- to hopefully find OceanGate Expeditions' lost Titan vessel and strategize how to bring it to the surface.
The Navy's machinery is a lift system that's designed to provide "reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels."
The Navy adds the experts and system should arrive in the area as soon as Tuesday night.
As you know, the Titan lost communication with the support crew a couple of hours into its expedition over the weekend ... with the Coast Guard launching a search and rescue for the vessel and the 5 passengers onboard.
The sub's been running out of emergency oxygen, with about 40 hours left as of Tuesday afternoon. Former Coast Guard Captain Andrew Norris joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday, telling us why those onboard won't just need one miracle to get home safely ... they'll need a boatload of them.