“Kamikaze boat” new front against Russian fleet

“Remote-controlled kamikaze boats”.

This is how the type of weapon that Ukraine has used against Russian targets is described more and more often in recent times, according to defense expert Hans Liwång.

A Russian tanker was damaged late Friday night by a “Ukrainian drone attack,” Russian authorities said.

According to Ukrainian sources, the attack must have been carried out by a so-called sea drone. Earlier that day, Ukraine attacked a Russian port and damaged a warship with the same type of drone, although Russia says it repelled the attack.

Ukraine has used this type of sea drone several times in recent times – something that Hans Liwång, docent in defense systems at the Norwegian Defense Academy and researcher in marine systems at KTH, believes could be significant for the development of the war.

A new front

– I think that the Russian navy felt relatively unthreatened when they had their ships in their ports. These (ocean drones) are relatively difficult to stop once they enter a port, says Liwång and continues:

– This will be another problem for Russia and you may have to strengthen the active protection with ships and boats around your ports much more than you thought.

Russia simply did not see ahead of itself being attacked from the sea, as the war mainly takes place on land, states Liwång.

– In this way, it has opened up a new front against the Russian fleet.

“Remote-controlled kamikaze boat”

But what kind of craft is this? Liwång says that it is best explained as a “remote-controlled kamikaze boat”.

These are smaller, about three to eight meters long, remote-controlled boats that seem to come in a few different variants, according to Liwång.

– Some are probably built from the start with this purpose in mind. But it also appears that Ukraine has retrofitted this type of remote control to boats originally built for other purposes, such as jet skis.

Liwång says that there is information about boats that go both above and below the surface of the water, but most are believed to be surface-going because those that travel below the surface are much more complex.

– On board there seem to be explosive charges that can be triggered close to the ship you have in mind, either via a collision or simply by remote control and detonation.

Thus the drone blows itself up.

Relatively cheap weapons

According to Liwång, there must be some manufacturers around the world, but he believes that most are manufactured in Ukraine with civilian and military components, which may also come from abroad.

The remote-controlled boats are cheap compared to traditional military weapons such as naval targeting robots. In Swedish terms, one can talk about a few hundred thousand kroner in pure construction costs, according to Liwång’s estimate.

– This is a complement that you don’t have to shoot from a ship, but can send them off from any shoreline. That means it will be cheap that way too.

Greater importance for Ukraine

According to Liwång, the disadvantage of sea drones is that they are relatively easy prey to destroy at sea.

– They have a long transport distance that they can handle as long as they have no threat to them.

Liwång also says that they go relatively quietly, but also slowly – in comparison with naval target robots, for example.

The development of this type of drone has been going on for a long time, and therefore Liwång considers it reasonable that Russia also has similar drones. On the other hand, the sea drones are more important for Ukraine, since their ports have already been largely bombed. Therefore, the drones have no further effect for Russia – but are a new threat because the Russian ports have not been attacked so far, according to Liwång.