Drones carrying drones may be the future of robotic warfare – and the Ukrainian military is leading the way.
Last month the Ukrainian navy launched a complex raid targeting former oil platforms Russian troops had occupied in the Black Sea.
There have been many such platform raids in the 35 months since Russia widened its war on Ukraine, but the December operation was special. It marked the debut of a new kind of satellite-controlled unmanned surface vehicle, or USV, in Ukrainian service.
This new USV carried tiny first-person-view unmanned aerial vehicles, each clutching a few pounds of explosives. The USVs launched their UAVs – at least four apiece – and the UAVs rammed into Russian surveillance equipment on the platforms, as well as a few Russian troops installing the equipment.
The Ukrainian navy and intelligence directorate have deployed USVs since early in Russia’s wider war. Along with ground-launched cruise missiles, the 18-foot drone boats are the Ukrainians’ main maritime strike weapons. Motoring hundreds of miles under remote control with explosives packed in their bows, the USVs are essentially manoeuvrable, wavetop torpedoes.
Drones carrying drones may be the future of robotic warfare – and the Ukrainian military is leading the way.
Last month the Ukrainian navy launched a complex raid targeting former oil platforms Russian troops had occupied in the Black Sea.
There have been many such platform raids in the 35 months since Russia widened its war on Ukraine, but the December operation was special. It marked the debut of a new kind of satellite-controlled unmanned surface vehicle, or USV, in Ukrainian service.
This new USV carried tiny first-person-view unmanned aerial vehicles, each clutching a few pounds of explosives. The USVs launched their UAVs – at least four apiece – and the UAVs rammed into Russian surveillance equipment on the platforms, as well as a few Russian troops installing the equipment.
The Ukrainian navy and intelligence directorate have deployed USVs since early in Russia’s wider war. Along with ground-launched cruise missiles, the 18-foot drone boats are the Ukrainians’ main maritime strike weapons. Motoring hundreds of miles under remote control with explosives packed in their bows, the USVs are essentially manoeuvrable, wavetop torpedoes.