On November 25, 2022, Bachmut, Ukraine, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict continued, Ukrainian soldiers tested the drone . (IC photo/photo)
On November 11, 2022, the US Naval Society (USNI) News Network reported that Ukraine has issued an international appeal, hoping to crowdfund a fleet of 100 domestic sea unmanned boats. According to reports, Ukrainian President Zelensky delivered a speech on the "Unity 24" website he initiated, calling for donations to build these unmanned boats. He said, "I believe millions of people will support this important area of Ukraine's national defense. Everyone has seen how it works."
unmanned boats have begun to show their strength
According to media reports such as the Eurasian Times, at around 4 a.m. on October 29, 2022, seven Ukrainian unmanned ships carrying explosives appeared near Crimea , attacking the Sevastopol port where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is located. Afterwards, Russia immediately announced that Ivan Golubets' minesweeper suffered minor damage. However, the video released by the media showed that Admiral Makarov, who succeeded Moscow, became the Black Sea flagship, may have suffered serious damage, hull rupture, and the radar system was damaged.
This time the attack on Ukraine used unmanned surface boat (USV). In September 2022, videos of Ukrainian suicide unmanned boats appeared on the Internet for the first time, when an unmanned boat ran aground near Sevastopol and was then dragged to the far sea to detonate. The independent military analyst , who is engaged in the research of submarine and underwater systems, and columnist H.I. Sutton, based on the video characteristics, said that the unmanned boat that launched the recent attack was very similar to it.
Russia's Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozaev called the attack "the largest attack launched by Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet base."
Zhu Lei, director of the 716th Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, said that unmanned boats can perform combat tasks efficiently under various dangerous, dirty and harsh conditions, while avoiding casualties. This unmanned boat is about 8 meters long and is painted in black, semi-submersible in water, and has strong concealment. The hull is propelled by water jet driving. A mast is installed on the top of the hull, and multiple sensing devices for photography lenses are built-in. There is a square device behind the hull to receive communication and data signals. In addition, there is a smaller lens on the bow, two cylindrical protrusions, which may be the sensing device of the navigation system. Howard Altman, a former senior editor of the Military Times, said that these unmanned boats are designed specifically for fast, maneuverable and difficult to monitor, and they have over-the-sight control capabilities.
Sutton added that five years ago, with the help of Iran, the Houthi armed forces in Yemen developed a variety of suicide unmanned boats to attack the Saudi frigate, causing an explosion at the tail of the ship, causing two deaths and three injuries.
unmanned ship strike effectiveness has been initially tested in actual combat.
The first unmanned boat fleet
First tasted the sweetness of unmanned boat strikes. Ukrainian Navy commander Alexei Nezpapa said at a media conference that such naval unmanned boats have demonstrated their efficiency and may reshape the situation in the Black Sea . "After the Moscow cruisers sink and recapture Snake Island , an unmanned boat fleet composed of one hundred multi-purpose surface devices will consolidate the success of the navy. They will also give us the opportunity to better protect the ocean and the entire territory of our country." The "Ukraine 24" website also wrote passionately in the crowdfunding copy, "Ukraine is building the world's first naval unmanned boat fleet", and a new era seems to be about to begin.
Regarding the unmanned boats that Ukraine intends to crowdfund the construction of this time, the "Unity 24" website disclosed their specific data: it is about 18 feet (5.5 meters), has a combat radius of about 250 miles, a range of about 500 miles, a maximum speed of about 50 mph, a combat load of up to 400 pounds, and a cost of about US$250,000 per USV. Nezpapa said they can participate in remote maritime reconnaissance, coastal surveillance, escort merchant ships and other tasks, defend the base and thwart the amphibious combat .
Although Ukraine is very confident in building this unmanned boat fleet, it still needs to question its real combat capabilities. After all, for a big country with strong sea charts, its current development in the field of unmanned ships has far exceeded the combat form presented by this attack.
Former Navy officer Wang Qunhuai told a researcher in the Southern Defense Think Tank that with technological breakthroughs in the fields of communication technology, sensor technology , target recognition and image processing technology, unmanned boats are rapidly iterating and upgrading, and are developing towards long-sea cruise, low noise, intelligence, stealth, unmanned driving and autonomous navigation. " artificial intelligence is the keyword."
At this stage, the technical level of Ukrainian unmanned boats is relatively basic, and it is not ruled out that there are Western aid components. Just recently, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused that about 15 British instructors trained the Ukrainian armed forces’ autonomous underwater vehicles on Piromesky Island, 3 kilometers south of Ochakov, aiming to destroy Russian ships.
In April 2022, the US Pentagon also included "unmanned sea defense boats" in its military aid package to Ukraine. Whether Ukraine has installed a weapon system on it for attack is also confusing.
According to reports, "Unity 24" is an initiative initiated by Zelensky to raise charitable donations for Ukraine, and to raise funds for the various products needed by the country's military and people. The website has launched crowdfunding several times, claiming that it has received donations from 110 countries to purchase nearly 50,000 sets of body armor, nearly 45,000 helmets, nearly 75,000 uniforms, nearly 70,000 sets of tactical underwear, more than 1,400 drones and a helicopter.
The U.S. Naval News Network quoted people familiar with the matter on November 13 as saying that more than 120 million Ukrainian hryvnia (about 3 million US dollars) were raised on the first day of the event alone, and the fees would be used to purchase 12 drones. One noteworthy situation is that neither the "Unity 24" website, the Ukrainian military, nor the insider, have disclosed what types of unmanned boats this fleet will consist of, and which department will be responsible for training and practical applications. Perhaps this crowdfunding will still be able to get what you want, but it remains to be seen whether such an unmanned ship unit can really reshape the situation in the Black Sea.
Asymmetric War New Way
Injures enemy ships with unmanned boats. As Alesio Patarano, professor of war and strategy at King's College London, commented, "Ukraine's launch of maritime attacks this time is creative and innovative, and it seems very courageous." The Russian army's negligence in response also provided an opportunity for the attack to be carried out.
"When driving at night, the frigate in the dark should also turn on the navigation radar , which is specially suitable for detection boats (such as fishing boats). Either the radar is 'sleeping', or the Russian radar equipment does not meet this requirement." The Polish "Defense 24" website pointed out that the Russian army is not prepared to prevent unmanned boats and lacks sufficient command and control.
"The smaller Ukrainian navy seems to be difficult to reach Sevastopol, and the Russian army has indeed adopted some defensive measures." Sutton also believes, "But in general, the Black Sea Fleet base looks normal and is almost a bit complacent. The high-value warship continues to use its peaceful berths. The boom at the port entrance is open most of the time."
From this point of view, the Black Sea Fleet was sneak attacked by an unmanned boat, which is particularly similar to the "Moscow" tragedy half a year ago. Chris Carlson, an open source intelligence analyst at the U.S. Navy and retired Navy Captain, said that the time was not an advanced Neptune missile, which was flying by sea. The two air search radars either had difficulty monitoring the flying by sea. The small missile , which was difficult to monitor, or even if the missile was discovered, they had no time to use defensive weapons, and were hit. The Russian Navy's insufficient training in damage control exacerbated the situation.
Why is the unmanned boat with a small size and not advanced technology able to achieve "small boats hitting large ships". From the above description, we can initially see the uniqueness of the unmanned boats.
In front of large warships, unmanned boats can play their advantages of strong mobility and small size. German website Bne Smart News published an article pointing out that even if Russian ship-based radar does monitor the unmanned boat fleet, it is unlikely to correctly classify it as an imminent threat. Gafftown, an analyst at the British geopolitics , added that even if classified as a threat, the frigate's missile systems are not optimized for small, slow, concealed surface targets, and it is unlikely to hit an unmanned boat with its main weapon. What’s more important is that the attack on unmanned boats seems very asymmetric in value exchange. In the past, missiles or people were often used to attack the other port ( frogman , submarine, surface ship or aircraft, etc.). Once discovered, it is likely that there will be no return, and a waste of manpower and material resources. This kind of unmanned boat only needs to operate remotely in the rear by personnel, without taking huge risks in person, nor do you need to consider the political impact of casualties in naval combat personnel.
. This type of unmanned boat is not expensive, and Altman calls it a "consumable anti-ship weapon." Helicopters are the ideal way to destroy unmanned boats. Just aim at them and you can destroy them. The main and secondary gunners of naval gun can complete this task with all their strength. However, if unmanned boat cluster tactics are adopted to implement "swarm sharks" operations, it will make its defense even more difficult.
So, Gavtown further deduces that even destroyer is not easy to deal with this group of unmanned boats. Although ordinary warships have naval guns and air defense missiles, they can use these weapons to destroy some unmanned boats, but if they are attacked by dozens of unmanned boats around at the same time, they will be overwhelmed. The use of unmanned boats has created new problems in naval combat and has also led to new tactics.
Patarano said, "The incident actually shows that Ukraine's way of combat has changed." The British "Love News" website also commented that Ukraine used unmanned boats to launch a strike on the Russian Black Sea Fleet and caused damage to Russian ships, marking the historic development of the naval warfare.
, a tactic of "small boats fighting big ships", is called asymmetric combat, and there are many precedents in history. On October 12, 2000, the U.S. Navy's "Cole" destroyer was attacked by al-Qaeda while refueling. A large hole was blown up in the middle of the hull and lost its combat capability. Fortunately, it did not sink due to its strong ability to damage and rescue in time.
Regarding this incident, the "Naval News" website published an article to evaluate that Ukraine is studying asymmetric combat. Just like the attack on the Crimean Bridge , which is of strategic importance to Russia, the Ukrainian army attacked the key targets to gain psychological advantages and damage the reputation of the Russian army. From this point of view, Zelensky initiated this crowdfunding, which promoted the intention of expanding the results of the war and strengthening the psychological war against Russia.
Researcher of Southern Defense Think Tank Yan Yan
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