Dutch volunteers will provide Ukraine with aquadrones for evacuation and cargo delivery

The platform can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h and potentially transport up to 1 ton of cargo.

Dutch volunteers demonstrated an aquadrone on the canals of Amsterdam, designed specifically for use in Ukraine. This is reported by Ukrinform.

The marine drone is planned to be used for cargo delivery, evacuation and rescue missions.

The idea of ​​creating an unmanned boat arose among the volunteers after communicating with the Ukrainian military. According to Jaap Scholten, co-founder of the Protect Ukraine Foundation, in 2023, Ukrainian defenders told about problems with delivering food, supplies and medical supplies across rivers.

“When the Ukrainian defenders told us that they had a problem with delivering food, supplies and everything they needed to the guys on the other side of the river, then the thought arose: can we create a drone that will be able to deliver food and medical supplies, as well as evacuate the wounded? Since we cooperate with a large number of engineers from Delft, I asked one of them: can we develop such an aquadrone? And so we started. A group of Dutch engineers developed an aquadrone, and we have already transferred four of them to Ukraine,” said Otto Koy, a volunteer at the Protect Ukraine Foundation.

Four volunteers were involved in the development. The unmanned boat is equipped with a remote control system and cameras, and communication can be carried out via the Starlink satellite system. There is also an automatic mode in which the route can be programmed in advance.

The platform design is modular, so it can be adapted for various tasks and equipped with additional equipment. The maximum speed of the aquadrone is up to 60 km/h.

“We developed it primarily for rescue missions, delivering necessary items, as well as for evacuation. But it can also be used for tactical missions — it all depends on the needs. We transfer the basic version, but it is completely modular. In fact, you can create any functions that the user needs,” Koy noted.

One of the key characteristics is the developers’ load capacity. According to Koy, the platform is potentially capable of carrying up to 1,000 kg of cargo.

The cost of the basic version of the aquadrone is about €45,000. The final price depends on the configuration and installed equipment.

Dutch volunteers have already transferred several such platforms to Ukraine. According to them, they plan to hold a demonstration of aquadrones in Kyiv, after which the developers will collect feedback from the Ukrainian military and adapt the system to the practical needs of the units.

Protect Ukraine is also considering the possibility of scaling up production. If the Ukrainian military is interested in the platform, the volunteers would like to involve the Dutch Ministry of Defense in the project and bring the number of manufactured boats to 30–40 units.

“If we receive an order from military units, we would like to involve the Dutch Ministry of Defense. Then, we hope, we will be able to produce 30-40 such boats, because in such a quantity they are already becoming a truly powerful tool. Now these are actually prototypes that we are constantly testing and improving,” emphasized Jaap Scholten, co-founder of the Protect Ukraine Foundation.

According to the volunteer, the aquadrones are constantly being improved, and the next stage should be their testing by Ukrainian units.

USM also previously wrote that Norway will allocate 1.2 billion Norwegian kroner for naval drones for Ukraine.