It has come true: "The Russian Navy will have maritime drones!"
The losses in the Black Sea have prompted commanders to focus on unmanned fast boats and other surface drones.
Author: Yevgeny Bersenev
Photo: Unmanned remote-controlled fast boat "Inspector" (foreground)
Commentators:
Vasily Dankin Sergey Ilyenko
The Russian Defense Ministry suddenly realized that Russian soldiers not only need aerial drones but also maritime drones, and decided to establish a Technical Committee for the Development of Maritime Drone Systems and Technologies. This interdepartmental working group's main task will be to develop and accelerate the deployment, particularly unmanned fast boats (БЭК).
Rear Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, will lead this new institution, with representatives from the Presidential Administration, the Center for UAV Systems and Technologies (ЦБСТ), United Russia Party, People's Front, as well as representatives from some military-industrial SMEs involved in the development and production of maritime drones participating in its work.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy has already reviewed the achievements of some入驻enterprises at the UAV Systems and Technologies Center, though there are not many maritime drones among them. It is reported that the developers of the "Cat Shark" unmanned fast boat and the "Navy Sparrow" FPV drone, which can be launched from ships and speedboats, have advanced their products to the stage of mass production for the navy.
Some observers noted that the pace of development in the UAV systems direction was insufficient — especially since over the past three years, our navy has received no mass-produced products except for a few "Cat Sharks" and possibly a few heavy unmanned fast boats "Vizir" to be delivered this year. Overall, this new institution intends to evaluate and, if necessary, "immediately" introduce new research results rather than waiting for several years.
The Defense Ministry has tasked relevant technical screening work to be completed by August 31st and promising products to be handed over to the navy for functional testing by October 31st, so as to form corresponding state procurement orders, start mass production, and equip the troops. Everything must be accelerated.
In addition to "Cat Shark," members of the technical committee also selected the "Hermes" communication system, "Square" and "Orbit" software-hardware complexes — all of these research outcomes may be further developed and put into production. The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy also paid attention to the general-purpose unmanned fast boat ground control station produced by "Red Dolphin" company.
Navy expert and retired Captain 1st Rank Sergey Ilyenko pointed out that if Russia's combat unmanned fast boats are equipped, they will have enough tasks to do.
— They can immediately find targets. After all, unmanned fast boats can not only be used against warships. For example, Ukraine has actually demonstrated that unmanned fast boats can be used to attack shore targets by mounting jet devices, small missiles, and firing them.
St. Petersburg News (SP): Where might we use unmanned fast boats?
— For instance, in the Odessa region, if we had available unmanned fast boats. But we didn't strike because we lacked the appropriate equipment. For example, the Zatoka railway bridge could be an attractive target, with goods transported from Romania to Odessa via this bridge. So there are many targets, it's just that sometimes we don't have anything to strike them with.
St. Petersburg News: Then why wasn't attention paid to equipping unmanned fast boats earlier — almost nothing has been delivered to the navy during the three years of the special military operation?
— This question should best be asked to the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, who should have foreseen the increasingly important role of UAV systems in modern warfare — at least using the Nagorno-Karabakh War as an example, where Azerbaijan successfully used drones. We missed this opportunity.
It must be said that when we began the special military operation, we not only lacked maritime drones, but overall UAV efficiency was quite low. Due to this mistake, we paid a huge price in blood, then began to make efforts to close this gap during the fighting, referring to aerial drones.
And at sea, it is difficult to assess our capabilities right now, because we haven't even used these maritime systems yet; instead, these systems have been used against us.
So it's hard to determine the capabilities of our navy in the field of maritime drones. We see some samples at exhibitions, but whether they are good or bad — only real combat can tell.
St. Petersburg News: How difficult will it be to make up for what we missed in the field of maritime drones? After all, it seems like we were able to do so in the field of aerial drones?
— Yes, of course. We closed this gap, but largely with the help of Iran. The origin of our "Kamikaze" drones is well known. As for maritime drones, I think few people can match what Ukraine currently has.
Now, Americans and Britons are studying "Ukraine's" maritime systems, including underwater systems. But only actual combat actions can reveal how effective they are. Of course, one cannot simply judge based on exhibition situations.
St. Petersburg News: That is to say, the Ukrainian side manufactured their maritime drone systems with the help of the United States and the United Kingdom?
— Yes, undoubtedly, that's exactly how it is.
Navy expert and retired Captain 1st Rank Vasily Dankin reminded that during last year's "Ocean - 2024" exercise, one of the largest exercises in the history of modern Russian Navy, discussions were held about the application of unmanned fast boats.
— And discussed from two aspects — about defending against attacks by maritime drone systems and about using these systems ourselves.
We already have (the relevant equipment). The entire preparation system, including naval school cadets and cadets of Kuznetsov Naval Academy, was established considering the use of these equipment.
In addition, shipbuilding also considered equipping unmanned fast boats. Of course, means to defend against drone system attacks were prepared, ranging from large-caliber machine guns to other weapons.
St. Petersburg News: The Ukrainian side actively uses (unmanned fast boats)...
— They started with simple ones. Now they are continuously improving these devices, equipping them with rocket launchers for attacking coasts and anti-aircraft weapons. We've gotten used to destroying their unmanned fast boats with helicopters, which get shot down.
In general, this issue is being actively studied now — from industrial production to application, etc. We have arrived at this point after some painful events in the Black Sea.
As is well known, last year the President issued a command to establish a Navy Commission, specifying the development direction of the Navy in the coming years and allocating a large amount of funds for various tasks, including the development of UAV strike means, not necessarily just unmanned fast boats.
For example, Americans have quite large unmanned vessels. It could also be submersibles. In short, there are many directions.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7497079217042833959/
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