In an article for Naval News, submarine expert H I Sutton mentions a Ukrainian unmanned submarine project called FURY and speculates why Kyiv at this stage of war needs rather underwater kamikaze drones than simpler and cheaper surface vehicles — explosive boats.
The FURY is currently still in development, with the first public presentation scheduled for January 28th under the auspices of the "The Offensive of Machines" hackathon hosted by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The specifications are yet unrevealed, so it seems too early to say such technologies are already a necessity, nevertheless, the article deserves paying attention.
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H I Sutton notes that the introduction of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) at first allowed Ukraine to be technologically a step ahead of the Black Sea Fleet of the russian Navy. However, as the battle progressed, it turned out that surface vessels were too vulnerable, especially to russian naval aviation, and russians were getting better at countering them.
The expert says, Ukraine needs to keep introducing innovations so that russia cannot regain its footing, and recalls the words by the Chief Commander of Ukrainian Navy, Oleksii Neizhpapa, that "Some of our tricks and tactics that were worked out in 2022 and 2023 will not work in 2024. Therefore, you need to change tactics, change the technical characteristics of everything you do," he said in an interview we took a look at previously.
The suicide boats will "still be relevant," H I Sutton says, but the underwater solutions could be the key to becoming two steps ahead of russians. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) can offer surprise, stealth, and survivability.
The Ukrainian FURY would be not an entirely new vessel but an existing platform weaponized with mines, torpedoes, or even submarine-launched missiles. Although making such a weapon won't be cheap, it will pay off thanks to being reusable.
On the part of Defense Express, we would like to put this article in a broader context. Countries with leading defense industries have been pursuing the development of unmanned submarines for a while now, so there are references and experience for Ukrainians to work with.
In particular, in late December 2023, Boeing delivered the first mass-produced Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle named Orca. The world's first drone submarine is 16 meters long and 2.5 meters wide in the basic configuration.
Interestingly, one of the developers of modern submarines is Highland Systems, a UAE company founded by a team of Ukrainian engineers. Their Kronos is a futuristic-looking multirole submarine capable of rescue and amphibious assault operations, it also carries six Black Scorpion torpedoes for self-defense. The submarine can also be remotely operated within a 250 km range.
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