Ukraine intends to put hundreds of unmanned boats into service with the Navy
This week, the head of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, Alexey Danilov, officially acknowledged that Kiev is striking at Russian facilities with its unmanned boats. Military observer of the Newspaper.En" Mikhail Khodarenok figured out which marine drones are equipped with the Ukrainian Navy and what means Russian sailors can oppose them.
Apparently, several samples of similar equipment with very similar tactical and technical characteristics and combat capabilities are in service with the Naval Forces of Ukraine (VMSU).
Relatively recently, Ukraine announced the development of a promising kamikaze boat for strikes against objects of the Russian coastal infrastructure and ships of the Black Sea Fleet.
It is possible that in this case we are talking about an unmanned Magura V5 type boat. It is believed that this is a Ukrainian development, but experts believe that for the most part the components for the assembly of this marine drone are manufactured in the United Kingdom and the United States. In Ukraine, only the final assembly of the devices is carried out.
The length of the boat is 5.5 m, width - no more than 2 m. The total mass of the marine drone reaches one ton. A high-explosive warhead weighing up to 300 kg is placed inside the case . The detonation can be carried out by contact with the target or by the operator's command.
The marine drone of the Magura V5 type is equipped with a gasoline boat engine and develops a speed of up to 80 km / h. The range of combat use is 800 km, and the autonomy is within 60 hours.
The boat is controlled by the operator's console. It cannot be excluded that there is also a mode of independent following a given route. The operator controls the marine drone using radio commands, and the telemetry and video signal from the optoelectronic system of the boat comes back. Communication with the device is carried out via the Starlink satellite system with signal encryption.
The cost of one such marine drone is approximately $ 250 thousand. More than a hundred similar devices are planned for construction.
The Russian expert community believes that the management of unmanned boats is carried out by specialists of the Navy from the 73rd special Center for Maritime Operations, stationed in Ochakov.
It is possible that as part of the Navy there are also unmanned surface vehicles of the MANTAS T-12 type, developed by the American company Maritime Tactical Systems.
The T-12 product is a catamaran with a pair of side hulls connected by a low-profile bridge. The length of the boat is about 3.6 m with a width of 915 mm and a total height of 360 mm. The weight of the boat is only 95 kg, and the payload is up to 63.5 kg. The cruising speed of the device is 20 knots, the cruising range is approximately 120 nautical miles. Despite the limited volumes, such a design accommodates all the necessary units and mechanisms.
Ankara is also developing its own marine drones (and it is possible that they may be in Ukraine in the near future). In particular, the Turkish company METEKSAN together with the shipbuilding company ARES Shipyard have developed a marine drone-kamikaze ULAQ KAMA. The manufacturing companies have stated that they are ready to manufacture 100 ULAQ KAMA-type kamikaze boats for the customer within 1 year at once (the figure itself suspiciously coincides with the already announced Ukrainian intentions for the numerical composition of their unmanned fleet).
Turkish kamikaze boats ULAQ KAMA will be able to be used not only for direct strike purposes, but also for patrolling the water area or conducting reconnaissance.
ULAQ KAMA unmanned boats, according to the developers, can have three different control options - fully autonomous, partially autonomous or remote (with the participation of an operator).
The probable mode of detonation of the warhead is direct contact with the target, the issuance of a command to detonate from the operator remotely, or the initiation of detonation based on control system data issued based on a comparison of visual data.
The ULAQ KAMA marine drone has the following characteristics: hull length - 6.37 meters, width - 1.2 meters, speed - more than 20 knots, range - more than 200 nautical miles, seaworthiness - up to 4 points, weight - 1.3 tons, of which the warhead or other payload - 200 kilograms.
So it is impossible to exclude the appearance of ULAQ KAMA in the near future on the equipment of the Navy.
It is possible to enroll marine drones and other types in the Navy. For example, over the past few years, the American company Metal Shark, commissioned by the US Marine Corps, has been developing a promising multi-purpose unmanned boat LRUSV (Long Range Unmanned Surface Vessel).
By now, the project has reached the construction and preliminary testing of the first prototype. The length of the ship is 18.5 m, width - 6 m, displacement is within several tens of tons. So far, there has been no data on possible deliveries of this type of boat to the Navy. But that's just for now.
Weaknesses of unmanned boats
The disadvantage of any unmanned boat is the surface part of very considerable geometric dimensions. For these reasons, it can be easily detected on the surface of the sea by radar stations (including those equipped with an optical channel). Among other things, a marine drone, even at relatively long ranges, is easily detected by visual observation posts.
By definition, there is no armor protection of vital units on ships of this type. Therefore, unmanned boats are relatively easily hit by small-gun fire. For example, large-caliber machine guns of 12.7 and 14.5 mm caliber, as well as naval artillery installations AK-630 of 30 mm caliber with one six-barrel rotating gun. At the same time, as a rule, there is a detonation of the combat part, which literally blows the drone to pieces.
For example, CNN asked one of the developers of the Ukrainian unmanned boat, "how effective is the Russian defense against this drone."
"Ineffective. The equipment they have on the ships is designed to attack other ships. They can't destroy this little drone. These drones are faster than anything in the Black Sea," said the developer, who wished to remain anonymous.
But he is simply unfamiliar with the characteristics of the AK-630 installation, which cuts cruise missiles into pieces in the air, what can we say about a low-speed boat.
Among other things, the control of an unmanned boat can be paralyzed by means of electronic warfare. The marine drone is guided by the operator using radio commands. A satellite signal is used to solve navigation problems. Therefore, the production of organized interference at these frequencies is quite possible.
Finally, traditional and long-known boom barriers and sea mines can be used to combat unmanned boats. And these funds will clearly be among the most effective. Therefore, it is not worth considering unmanned boats as some kind of invulnerable superweapon at sea.
Mikhail Khodarenok