Ukraine's New Maritime Drone Revealed

Images have emerged showing a new 'maritime drone, aka uncrewed surface vessel (USV), developed in Ukraine. The design is related to Monobank, an online bank which has become one of the main ways volunteers to provide money to the Ukrainian war effort. monobank has been directly involved in efforts to raise money for maritime drones.

There was, perhaps not coincidently, a maritime drone attack on Sevastopol today (March 22 2023). It is however unconfirmed whether this new design was directly involved in that incident.

Despite the photos, few details are currently available. It appears slightly smaller and generally sleeker than the earlier type. There is no sign of a camera or sensor masts, or communications. This does not mean that there aren't any as it may simply be efforts to protect key features and thus capabilities.

Screenshot of video shared on Russian social media showing an explosion in Sevastopol harbor. This appears to have been one of the drones being hit by cannon fire.

One video coming out of the Sevastopol attack appears to be burning USV caught at harbor floating boom defenses. Sevastopol's Russian Governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, commented on his Telegram channel that 3 USVs were destroyed. The attack was coordinated with UAVs (uncrewed air vehicles). And the Russian Minister of Defense, Shoigu, admitted that UAVs had attacked the strategic base. Even if no ships are sunk, attacks have major impact.

Obligatory cat photo. Via Oleg Gorohovsky, Instagram

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