Naval Drones

Scott Kenny said:
So, hacked the Russian cameras or snuck a drone in there?
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NMaude said:
I suspect the former.

*IIRC all Kilo-class.
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Confirmed hacked.

Ukraine’s first underwater drone strike caught on hacked cameras​

www.defensenews.com

Ukraine’s first underwater drone strike caught on hacked cameras

A video on an official government affiliated website reportedly showed the Sub Sea Baby drone striking a part of a Russian Kilo-class submarine.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

PaleBlue Delivers ROV Simulator to the French Navy​

www.navalnews.com

PaleBlue Delivers ROV Simulator to the French Navy - Naval News

PaleBlue has delivered a comprehensive Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) training simulator to the French Navy.
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com

SEA to deliver KraitArray sonar for Liquid Robotics Wave Glider​

www.navalnews.com

SEA to deliver KraitArray sonar for Liquid Robotics Wave Glider - Naval News

SEA has been awarded a multi-million-pound contract to supply its advanced KraitArray undersea sensing technology to Liquid Robotics, a Boeing Company, for integration into the company's Wave Glider USV.
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com
 
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Unterwasser-Drohnenangriff Noworossijsk

Ein ukrainischer Unterwasser-Drohnenangriff nahe Noworossijsk stellt Russlands Annahmen über sichere Häfen infrage. Unklarer Schaden, neue Seekriegsmittel – und strategische Folgen weit über das Schwarze Meer hinaus.
esut.de esut.de

A german article on the recent Novorossiysk UUV attack has some interesting slides (afaik not published before), showcasing the different toloka variants:
 

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Navy's new RAS office prioritizes 'Dragonfish' UUV to accelerate Replicator-era program​

Navy's new RAS office prioritizes 'Dragonfish' UUV to accelerate Replicator-era program | InsideDefense.com

Accelerating the development of an underwater drone program inherited from the Pentagon's now-rebranded Replicator initiative will be a priority for the Navy's new Portfolio Acquisition Executive Robotic Autonomous System (PAE RAS) office, according to a draft memo obtained by Inside Defense.
insidedefense.com insidedefense.com
 

Autonomous submarine XV Excalibur handed to Royal Navy​

www.navalnews.com

Autonomous submarine XV Excalibur handed to Royal Navy - Naval News

The UK Submarine Delivery Agency announcement on 11 December 2025 that it handed over autonomous submarine XV Excalibur to the Royal Navy
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com

Exail wins new order for several hundred K-STER underwater drones​

www.navalnews.com

Exail wins new order for several hundred K-STER underwater drones - Naval News

Exail announces the signing of an important order for several hundred K-STER mine neutralization drones, destined for several navies.
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/2009587104519508310
View: https://x.com/NavyLookout/status/2009587104519508310?s=20

Babcock pitches Type 31 frigate as command platform for uncrewed systems​

www.navylookout.com

Babcock pitches Type 31 frigate as command platform for uncrewed systems - Navy Lookout

Babcock has unveiled their ARMOR force concept in line with the Royal Navy’s evolution towards a hybrid, fleet. This envisages adaptations of the Type 31 frigate as the Common Command Vessel (CCV) for a networked force of large uncrewed surface vessels and other autonomous assets at range. ARMOR...
www.navylookout.com www.navylookout.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/2009704113366303110
View: https://x.com/Saronic/status/2009704113366303110?s=20
 
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Adapable Deck Launching System sown onboard USVs.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2011265457400274948
View: https://x.com/lfx160219/status/2011265457400274948?s=20


www.facebook.com

27 reactions | Stop by booth 200 at #SNA26 to see our game-changing naval weapons and launching systems. Interact with our virtual experience to learn more about how we’re enhancing speed and lethality to address capability needs in contested waters—

Stop by booth 200 at #SNA26 to see our game-changing naval weapons and launching systems. Interact with our virtual experience to learn more about how we’re enhancing speed and lethality to address...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 

Official: 45% of Navy's surface force to be unmanned by 2045​

Official: 45% of Navy's surface force to be unmanned by 2045 | InsideDefense.com

As the Navy shifts more focus onto robotic and autonomous systems, the service has set a goal for the next two decades: by 2045, 45% of the surface fleet should be unmanned, an official said this week.
insidedefense.com insidedefense.com

Qatari firm Performance Marine unveils Ghost 7 USV, aims for sea trials this year​

breakingdefense.com

Qatari firm Performance Marine unveils Ghost 7 USV, aims for sea trials this year - Breaking Defense

USVs are proving popular items to show off at DIMDEX.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
 
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UMEX total deals reach $980 million, navies seek 3D-printed USVs​

breakingdefense.com

UMEX total deals reach $980 million, navies seek 3D-printed USVs - Breaking Defense

This value of signed deals represents a 20 percent increase compared to the previous UMEX in 2024, a sign of “the evolving development and confidence in the UAE’s defense industry," said Tawazun spokesperson Manea Abdulkarim Al Mansoori.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com

Qatari companies unveil new USVs as Iran skips 2026 DIMDEX naval expo​

breakingdefense.com

DIMDEX 2026: Qatar unveils drone boats while Iran stays home

New on the Middle East Defense Digest: Drone boats, the Qatari defense industry and foreign ships make their mark at DIMDEX 2026.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
 
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Forest Green said:

Official: 45% of Navy's surface force to be unmanned by 2045​

Official: 45% of Navy's surface force to be unmanned by 2045 | InsideDefense.com

As the Navy shifts more focus onto robotic and autonomous systems, the service has set a goal for the next two decades: by 2045, 45% of the surface fleet should be unmanned, an official said this week.
insidedefense.com insidedefense.com
Click to expand...
I mean, if we assume that there are 3x unmanned "ASW XL-USVs" (think small frigates) per manned frigate, that's at least 70 extra-large USVs just from that.

If that expands to giving DDGs those same ASW XL-USVs, it'd be easy to get up to ~150 or more ships.
 
Scott Kenny said:
I mean, if we assume that there are 3x unmanned "ASW XL-USVs" (think small frigates) per manned frigate, that's at least 70 extra-large USVs just from that.

If that expands to giving DDGs those same ASW XL-USVs, it'd be easy to get up to ~150 or more ships.
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This aligns well with our discussion on the sensor net arrangement. With 15 per carrier group and 11 groups that's 165 ships.
More are needed as a number will always require maintainance at port or the like. By rule of thumb some 10-20% more.
 
Seragina said:
This aligns well with our discussion on the sensor net arrangement. With 15 per carrier group and 11 groups that's 165 ships.
More are needed as a number will always require maintainance at port or the like. By rule of thumb some 10-20% more.
Click to expand...
Thing is, with USVs you don't need 3 hulls to have 1 at sea. You only need ~2 and change, though if you can afford 3 it means the same USVs always work with the same manned ships. This may be good for the quirks that computers develop based on hardware and software version interactions.

This also depends on how long the maintenance on USVs takes.
 

Video: Blue Water Autonomy Introduces Liberty-class Autonomous Ship​

www.navalnews.com

Video: Blue Water Autonomy Introduces Liberty-class Autonomous Ship - Naval News

Blue Water Autonomy, a Boston-based technology and shipbuilding company, today announced details of its first vessel, the Liberty-class.
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFR-L88a2nk

STEAMRACER-class USV Advances in Major U.S. Navy MASC Program​

www.navalnews.com

STEAMRACER-class USV Advances in Major U.S. Navy MASC Program - Naval News

American marine autonomy company Sea Machines unveiled the STEAMRACER-class unmanned surface vessel (USV) and announced it is is strongly positioned in the U.S. Navy’s final competitive evaluation phase for the Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) Program.
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com
 

Taiwan should create drone swarm ‘asymmetric hellscape’ to blunt Chinese invasion: Report​

breakingdefense.com

Taiwan should create drone swarm 'asymmetric hellscape' to blunt Chinese invasion: Report - Breaking Defense

“Drones could augment Taiwan’s limited stockpile of expensive weapons with precise, affordable mass that produces cross-domain effects while reducing risk to military personal by employing uncrewed systems for the most dangerous missions," the Center for New American Security report says.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
 
Forest Green said:

Taiwan should create drone swarm ‘asymmetric hellscape’ to blunt Chinese invasion: Report​

breakingdefense.com

Taiwan should create drone swarm 'asymmetric hellscape' to blunt Chinese invasion: Report - Breaking Defense

“Drones could augment Taiwan’s limited stockpile of expensive weapons with precise, affordable mass that produces cross-domain effects while reducing risk to military personal by employing uncrewed systems for the most dangerous missions," the Center for New American Security report says.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
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If the Taiwanese are smart they'll already be quietly talking to the Ukrainians about naval drones.
 
Grey Havoc said:
It seems I originally posted this in the wrong thread by mistake. From a couple of days ago:
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@covert_shores did a "hot take" (pun intended?) on this:

View: https://youtu.be/oNgLl0y9Fpk


bsky.app

H I Sutton (@covertshores.bsky.social)

Rough calcs... The vessel plus cargo was likely valued at as much as $300,000,000 China unlikely to have paids for the cargo, so total loss to Russia. [contains quote post or other embedded content]
bsky.app bsky.app

bsky.app

H I Sutton (@covertshores.bsky.social)

Latest photos of the sanctioned Russian LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz in Mediterranean, after being hit by USVs (surface drones). Still floating but a complete loss for Russia.
bsky.app bsky.app

bsky.app

H I Sutton (@covertshores.bsky.social)

marine traffic updated!
bsky.app bsky.app
 

Australia to get 40 more Bluebottle unmanned surface vessels​

breakingdefense.com

Australia to get 40 more Bluebottle unmanned surface vessels - Breaking Defense

Australian navy chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond said that the Bluebottle was an extremely durable asset, noting that “these things have remained on station as the cyclones have rolled through, and they've remained operational.”
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com

Kraken wins Royal Navy contract to deliver 20 USV​

www.navalnews.com

Kraken wins Royal Navy contract to deliver 20 USV - Naval News

Kraken will deliver 20 uncrewed surface vessels under Project Beehive to support the Royal Navy's transition to a hybrid fleet.
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com
 
www.faz.net

NATO-Manöver vor Portugal: Ukraine „versenkt“ alliierte Fregatte

Bei einer NATO-Übung vor der Küste Portugals zeigt sich die Effektivität ukrainischer Seedrohnen. Das Bündnis möchte daraus lernen.
www.faz.net www.faz.net
www.pravda.com.ua

How Ukraine "sank" NATO frigate with drones during military exercises: details revealed

A multinational naval team led by Ukraine which played the role of the "enemy" during NATO's REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger exercises 2025 is reported to have exposed vulnerabilities in NATO's naval forces and to have "sunk" at least one allied frigate.
www.pravda.com.ua www.pravda.com.ua
At the NATO REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger 2025 exercises off the coast of Portugal, a multinational team under Ukrainian command, acting as the “opposing force,” defeated the Alliance’s forces, winning all five scenarios targeting ports and convoys, as reported by FAZ

The main outcome of the maneuvers was the simulated destruction of at least one NATO frigate, which “sank” because Alliance detection systems failed to notice the approach of fast unmanned strike vessels.

On the NATO (“Blue”) side were American, British, Spanish, and other units, while the opposing (“Red”) side relied on Ukrainian Magura V7 naval drones in various configurations: one equipped with explosives, another with a heavy machine gun.

Victory was counted under the exercise rules as soon as the target was locked at close range, meaning it was enough to guide the drone onto the frigate or convoy ship before the enemy could detect it.

In one scenario, Ukrainian forces scored so many simulated hits on a frigate that, in a real battle, the ship would have sunk—yet the “Blue” crew was still asking in the general chat five minutes later whether the attack had even started.
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It has just occurred to me that with the Gulf states (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and UAE) approaching Ukraine for use of their drone-interceptors to deal with Iranian Shaheed drones they could also ask the Ukrainians for their help in deploying Magura drones to deal with IRGC speedboats causing problems in the straits of Hormuz.​
 
NMaude said:
It has just occurred to me that with the Gulf states (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and UAE) approaching Ukraine for use of their drone-interceptors to deal with Iranian Shaheed drones they could also ask the Ukrainians for their help in deploying Magura drones to deal with IRGC speedboats causing problems in the straits of Hormuz.​
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Maybe the machine gun version would benefit from some AI targeting system similar to that used with some of the UAVs, to compensate for comms delays.
 
Turkish firm develops new-gen kamikaze drone boat

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Kraken Robotics Demonstrates KATFISH Autonomous Launch and Recovery from SEFINE USV​

www.navalnews.com

Kraken Robotics Demonstrates KATFISH Autonomous Launch and Recovery from SEFINE USV - Naval News

Kraken announces the successful integration and demonstration of its KATFISH towed synthetic aperture sonar and autonomous launch and recovery system (LARS) from SEFINE’s RD-22 unmanned surface vessel
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/2041472345391452638
View: https://x.com/NOELreports/status/2041472345391452638?s=20
 
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Grey Havoc said:
It seems I originally posted this in the wrong thread by mistake. From a couple of days ago:
www.bbc.com

Russia blames Ukrainian naval drones as tanker is reported sunk in Mediterranean

The Arctic Metagaz went down between Libya and Malta after it was hit by explosions and a fire, Libyan officials say.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
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It appears that to me that a moderately funded nation can really inflict large naval losses while being extremely difficult to stop with current naval defenses.

Just smuggle USVs or even better, UUVs with standard ISO containers everywhere and just home AIS. (maybe just move parts and assemble on site) There isn't remotely enough escorts without hugely inefficient convoying. Equipping transports with sensors and weapons is also hugely problematic.

Imagine the level of FUBAR this can inflict when the budget of a large naval warship is thrown at such a plan.
 
It’s the same across all forms of combat: the cheap automated platform can be smaller and hard to detect and then inflict disproportionate damage. PGMs of all kinds are also able to do similar things, thanks to low cost and precision. It is incredibly destabilizing because it tends to reward the offense and in particular, the side that strikes first.
 

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