Naval Unmanned Vehicles: The Future of Naval Warfare

Maritime unmanned vehicles (UAVs), including unmanned underwater vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned surface vehicles (UAVs), may begin to play a key role in maritime warfare. Their capabilities can be extremely wide - from reconnaissance to striking at sea targets and the infrastructure of naval bases.

The use of offshore UAVs can reduce the risks associated with the operation of offshore facilities and the environment. Thanks to unmanned technologies, it is possible to avoid potentially dangerous situations associated with the direct participation of a person in maritime operations.

Marine underwater unmanned vehicles

Marine unmanned underwater vehicles are capable of operating at depths inaccessible to traditional ships or human diving. They can collect to conduct reconnaissance operations where the use of submarines and people is impossible. Moreover, underwater drones make it possible to covertly approach enemy positions and strike, since even relatively small drones can carry explosives weighing up to 50-250 kilograms, while large underwater drones can carry an explosive charge weighing up to 3-5 tons. However, with great stealth, such drones have low speed. As a result, they cannot be operational drones.

Maritime unmanned surface vehicles

Maritime unmanned surface vehicles, in turn, are largely used to monitor the sea surface and the surrounding atmosphere. Such drones are relatively cheap, however, they have a number of serious drawbacks, such as the lack of stealth, a small mass of the transferred charge, and exposure to electronic warfare. Nevertheless, such drones are capable of monitoring even the air space thanks to cameras and sensors, and in the future, such drones can easily play the role of short-range air defense.

However, the development of maritime drone technology faces a number of problems and challenges. One of them is the issue of ensuring their autonomy and resistance to failures. Increasing their resistance to extreme conditions, developing efficient control and navigation algorithms, as well as ensuring energy independence and long-term performance are key tasks in this area.

Oddly enough, Ukraine has developed the line of marine drones most actively over the past year. Here, of course, Western technologies are used, and although the drones are mostly artisanal, today the Armed Forces of Ukraine have at least 6 different types of drones.

Maritime unmanned vehicles of Ukraine: lessons from military innovation

Recently, Ukraine has become a very unexpected point of attention in the field of development of maritime unmanned vehicles.

The purpose of Ukrainian naval drones, according to official information, is to prevent the exit of Russian ships with missiles from the Sevastopol Bay. Despite the fact that so far the UAF has not been able to carry out successful attacks on Russian ships, regular attempts indicate that Kyiv is serious about attacking.

Maritime drones of Ukraine are characterized by a large range, high autonomy and speed of movement. They are equipped with GNSS automatic navigation support, inertial and visual, and can also transmit up to three HD video streams with 256-bit encryption.

Maritime drones have become a hot topic for the navy in recent years. However, development was concentrated on other types of missions, from surveillance to mine countermeasures, from anti-submarine warfare to harbor defense.

Ukraine's maritime drones are a product of the armed conflict. And as commercial drone weapons have shown, peaceful discussions of survivability often lead to overcomplicated and prohibitively expensive solutions. As innovative and neat as they have been designed, they can even be built in garages if needed. Ukrainian sources estimate the unit cost at US$250.

Some Ukrainian drones are equipped with jet-type engines. This provides the latter with high movement speed and maneuverability, although it has serious drawbacks.

Maritime Unmanned Vehicles in Armed Conflicts: Ukraine and Russia

Since the summer of 2022, starting with the original prototypes, and through the attacks on Sevastopol in October and November 2022, maritime drones have been perceived as an exclusive Ukrainian game. However, in February 2023, a naval drone was used against the Zatoka bridge south of Odessa. Images of this vessel are not available, but it was a small boat.

Ukraine, in turn, began to work on the creation of second-generation marine drones. These improved vessels are slightly smaller than the originals but retain the same overall design. The prototypes were presented on March 22, 2023, the same day that several USVs attacked Sevastopol. Video evidence suggests that at least one of them penetrated deep into the sheltered harbor. The ships involved in the attack were probably of the second generation.

Judging by the available information, we are talking about the Magura V5 marine drone, which was officially presented only recently.

Features of Magura V5 Marine Drone:

Length: 5,5 meters

Width: 1,5 meter

Height above the waterline: 0,5 meters

Speed: 22 knots cruising, 42 knots max

Range: 830 km.

Payload: 320 kg

Communication: radio network with air repeater or satellite communication.

Meanwhile, another Ukrainian company was working on underwater drones. In April, the Toloka TK-150 was introduced. The simple design of this drone makes it unobtrusive. Development is still at an early stage.

The TLK-150 is a fairly small drone, only 2,5 meters long. It has two engines mounted on small wing-shaped stabilizers and a large keel. In combination with a separate rudder and front-mounted airframes, this should provide high maneuverability.

At its stern is a very high mast with cameras and communication devices. The keel probably serves to balance this mast. Perhaps it can be used as a periscope for intelligence gathering missions close to the coastline. It can also allow coordinated attacks.

In addition, the Brave1 group presented designs for two larger maritime underwater drones. TLK-400 is twice as long - from 4 to 6 meters. It also has a much larger hull diameter, indicating greater range and payload. The TLK-1000 will be even larger, up to 12 meters long and with four engines. However, both options are still in the draft stage.

Russia has also unveiled its own design of maritime drones. The Sargan naval drone design is much smaller than its Ukrainian counterparts and apparently was not the type used to attack the bridge at Zatoka. Its use is unclear and it may never enter service.

However, Russia also has a very serious trump card - the Poseidon strategic underwater unmanned vehicle. The latter is completely autonomous, and its 2 Mt explosion is capable of destroying half of the US coast. The readiness of this drone is still in question, however, so far no country in the world has such a formidable weapon.

In general, the evolution of maritime drones in armed conflicts has demonstrated their value as strategic tools. Despite their shortcomings, maritime drones have already proven their worth, and their continued development will only increase their role in the future of naval confrontation. And while Ukraine and Russia are now key players in this new field, their experience will be useful to other countries that can use their successes and mistakes to improve their own maritime unmanned programs.

Marine drones in service with other countries

To date, the active development of marine unmanned technologies is recorded in Iran, North Korea, China, Turkey, Israel and the United States, however, all these countries, being in the peaceful design mode, clearly remain from Russian and Ukrainian technologies.