Watercraft strikes: paratroopers in the Dnieper water area will be reinforced with unmanned boats

They can be used both to supply our units and as river kamikaze units

Airborne units operating in the Kherson area will receive unmanned boats (backboats). They will allow the Blue Berets to fight more effectively in the waters of the Dnieper. According to Izvestia's sources in the Russian Defense Ministry, the backups will be used to attack coastal infrastructure and watercraft, as well as to supply troops. Experts note that these devices, equipped with a charge of up to 500 kg, will become effective river strike weapons capable of neutralizing any target.

Backups for the Blue Berets

Unmanned boats (BEC) will soon be received by units of the Airborne Forces unmanned systems, sources told Izvestia in the Russian Defense Ministry. The operators of these weapons will have to strike at the coastal infrastructure and watercraft, as well as supply our troops by waterway.

The units that will receive unmanned boats will operate in the Dnieper River area, on river islands and in the channels, Colonel Valery Yuryev, chairman of the Union of Paratroopers of Russia, told Izvestia.

"The task of the paratroopers armed with tanks will be simple — the destruction of all life that appears on the water surface," he believes. — If a decision is made to force the Dnieper, unmanned boats will participate in this operation. They will destroy the enemy river fleet, consisting of boats, and cover the landing forces. They will also have to conduct reconnaissance regardless of the time of day, deliver ammunition, food, drinking water and other important goods.

A soldier with a remote-controlled boat for delivering goods by water

Image source: Photo: TASS/Alexey Konovalov

Monitoring the situation on the line of contact will become one of the main tasks for river drones, military expert Alexei Leonkov believes.

— The weather is not always flying, especially in autumn and winter, which makes it difficult for the UAV to operate, — the expert explained. — And for surface unmanned vehicles, this is not a hindrance. On the river and in the coastal zone, they will be able to identify the locations of personnel, the presence of firing points, and the deployment of reserves by water, regardless of fogs, clouds, or rains. Monitoring of the situation on the islands and in coastal areas will become much better, which will give our troops additional advantages in confronting the enemy.

River "kamikaze"

Backups can provide effective fire support to troops, Valery Yuryev noted. He clarified that machine guns and anti-tank guided missiles are currently being installed on them, they serve as platforms for launching UAVs, and they can also carry individual elements of rocket artillery on board.

"They will have to act actively, support the troops with all the means available on board, and make diversionary maneuvers," he said.

Alexey Leonkov is sure that another important role is the use of unmanned launch vehicles as shock weapons with serious warheads.

The Simferopol reconnaissance vessel of the Ukrainian Navy, sunk by a Russian crewless boat in the Danube River Delta

Image source: Photo: Telegram

"The backups will be effective as floating barrage munitions, that is, river kamikaze," the expert noted. — If necessary, they will strike at the crossings on the Dnieper. UAVs operating at the front carry charges, as a rule, no more than 20-50 kg, and the backup can be safely loaded with 400-500 kg of explosives, which will destroy any pontoon bridge, seriously damage or even destroy a major one. The power of their charge can be compared to the warhead of the Iskander ballistic missile, only much cheaper.

In addition, they will be effective against any watercraft. One of the first applications of our unmanned boats took place on the Danube, experts say.

— At the end of the summer of this year, the Russian BEC launched the Simferopol reconnaissance vessel of the Ukrainian Navy, — Alexey Leonkov noted. — Their effectiveness has long been proven in combat.

Theater of military operations

The western part of the Kherson region is now under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the issue of its liberation will inevitably arise, said military expert Dmitry Boltenkov.

"There are quite a lot of airborne units operating in the Dnieper region," he noted. — When carrying out operations to cross the river, they will need backs who can take on a variety of tasks.

Our troops need backups even with a fairly static front line, the expert believes.

"There are many islands in the delta of the river — there are battles going on there now," he reminded. — For reconnaissance and supply, it is better to use unmanned platforms, rather than boats with fighters who, with a large number of UAVs in the sky, put their lives in danger. Using backups will save the lives and health of our guys.

The fleet on the Dnieper

When conducting operations in the Dnieper water area, our troops work together with the forces of the Dnieper River Flotilla, experts remind. Its creation was announced already during the SVO — on March 20, 2024.

Its area of responsibility includes the lower reaches and the Dnieper delta, the Kinburnskaya Spit, and the Dnieper Estuary. Control of these waters allows the enemy to block access to the Black Sea from the ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson. The flotilla has intelligence, Marine corps and army aviation units. It is armed with 130-mm A-222 Bereg self-propelled artillery units. They can hit not only ground targets, but also surface targets capable of traveling at speeds over 100 knots (185 km/h).

Military personnel at the A-222 Bereg coastal self-propelled artillery complex at the Iron Horn training ground on the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory during exercises of crews of coastal missile and artillery complexes

Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Vitaly Timkiv

Izvestia wrote that UAV units had recently been created in its composition. They are armed with a whole range of drones, including FPV. They are engaged in reconnaissance, fire correction and strikes against enemy targets.

The unit has already taken part in combat operations on several sections of the line of contact along the Dnieper.

They participated in repelling enemy attacks, chasing maneuvering groups on boats and speedboats, destroying coastal firing points, observation posts, radar and visual control stations. They have destroyed important targets, such as command posts of Ukrainian formations.

Bogdan Stepovoy

Andrey Fedorov