USVs will be able to have missions such as attacking enemy warships, conducting long-range reconnaissance, coastal surveillance, escorting merchant ships, as well as preventing enemy amphibious operations.
“Kyiv posted photos of the USVs on the fundraising website UNITED24 to raise money for the drone boats through crowdfunding. Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, launched the UNITED24 project to raise funds for various products needed by the military and the people of the country.
The drones in question are said to be capable of striking targets up to 500 miles away, among other missions. In addition, the Ukrainian government hopes to raise enough money to buy 100 USVs. The fundraising site’s Twitter account tweeted a video with the message:
“Ukraine is building the world’s first fleet of naval drones, so we’re kicking off the biggest fundraiser to date. It will protect Ukrainian waters, prevent cities from being hit by missiles and help unlock lanes for civilian grain-carrying ships.”
Plans to build a fleet of USVs could represent Kiev’s efforts to advance drone technology that is vital to the country’s fight against Russia.
On November 11, Zelensky posted on his Telegram channel that the country needed to protect its peaceful cities and coasts from Russian ship-launched missiles.
He went on to say that naval drones will also help unclog the corridor for civilian ships carrying grain around the world. “I am sure that millions of people will support this important sector of Ukraine’s defense. Everyone has already seen how it works,” he added.
Each USV costs $250,000 and comes with a ground autonomous control station, a transport and storage system and “a data processing center”.
Ukrainian officials, however, withheld detailed information about the operations of the “data processing center” for security reasons. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Navy also underlined the importance of these drones for Ukrainian security.
Oleksiy Neizhpapa, Vice-Admiral, Commander of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Navy, said that such naval drones have already demonstrated their effectiveness and have the potential to reshape the situation in the Black Sea.
Neizhpapa also emphasized that these USVs could engage in long-range navy reconnaissance, coastal surveillance, escorting merchant ships, defending our bases and disrupting amphibious operations.
Navy drones can also accompany and support the conventional fleet. After the sinking of the cruiser Moskva and the recapture of Snake Island, he claimed that a fleet of 100 multipurpose surface drones would guarantee the Navy’s success. USVs will also allow the country to better defend the sea, as well as the entire territory of the country.
Ukrainian Navy Drones (USV)
New images released by Kyiv show drone vessels similar to the USV used in the attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet (for more information please read the analysis entitled “Ukrainians hit Russian Naval Surface ships with USVs“). Navy drones, along with UAVs, were deployed by Ukrainian forces to attack the Russian navy in Sevastopol on October 29. In this attack, three warships of the Russian Navy were reportedly damaged.
Images of Ukraine’s suicide drone configuration first surfaced online in late September, when one of these drones washed up in Crimea.
Experts believe the specifications of the drone craft released on Friday provide insight into how Ukraine had carried out an audacious attack against the Russian navy.
USVs have an operational radius of up to about 250 miles, a range of up to about 500 miles, and a top speed of nearly 50 miles per hour. The maritime drone has a “maximum combat payload” of about 400 pounds. The device can be operated by satellite navigation from a ground-based “autonomous” control center.
But in locations where GPS is not allowed, an inertial navigation system and optical through a camera subsystem with night vision capabilities are used to guide the marine drone.
The fundraising website said Russia had fired nearly 4,500 missiles into Ukraine, with 20% of those missiles launched from the sea.
“Ukraine had nothing to object to these ships because the Ukrainian fleet lost 80% of its vessels after the seizure of Crimea in 2014,” UNITED24 noted.
However, the UNITED24 internet platform has greatly helped Ukraine in its efforts to raise money for the purchase of new weapons. According to the website, donations from 110 nations were used to buy drones, helicopters, bulletproof vests, helmets and uniforms.
Conclusions
From the above, it can be seen that the Ukrainians, realizing the imperatives of the modern battlefield, successfully carried out a strike with sea drones (USV) in Sevastopol against the Russian Crimean fleet, a few days ago, with the known results.
The success of the whole project contributed decisively to the conception of the idea of creating a unique fleet of these 100 maritime drones, which Ukraine is trying to create.
USVs could additionally participate in long-range maritime reconnaissance, coastal surveillance, escort of merchant ships, defense of bases and deterrence of enemy amphibious operations.
