Military milestone: Ukrainian naval drone sinks Russian kamikaze drone boat
Drone boat battle occurs as Ukraine and Russia target Black Sea ports and ships.
Drone boat battle occurs as Ukraine and Russia target Black Sea ports and ships.
The short version
- In the world’s first clash of the drone boats, a Ukrainian naval drone destroyed a Russian explosive drone boat using a remote-controlled machine gun turret.
- This comes as the war in Ukraine has already seen widespread deployment of such uncrewed surface vessels in combat, along with swarms of flying attack drones and ground robots.
- The lopsided battle took place on September 12 when members of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence detected the Russian uncrewed surface vessel (USV) in the Black Sea and directed a Ukrainian Navy drone boat to intercept.
What happened
The Russian vessel was “positively identified” as an Orcan surface drone with a “jet ski type steerable water jet” designed to ram targets and explode, according to naval analyst HI Sutton in Naval News . Such Orcan drones have already been used to attack Ukrainian ports and ships.
Why it matters
These often work in coordination with flying drones such as Russian Geran drones that provide aerial reconnaissance and can boost communication between drone operators and drone boats, Sutton explained.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.