Ukraine is developing naval drones to intercept Russian “shadow fleet” vessels

Instead of destroying ships, the new drones will escort them to ports for further seizure of cargo.

Ukraine is developing a new system of sea drones to detain and confiscate commercial vessels carrying sanctioned goods in the Black Sea. This was reported by Business Insider with reference to the commander of the Defense Intelligence special unit with the call sign Dev’yatyi.

The new modification is being developed on the basis of the multi-purpose sea drone “Katran” of the Ukrainian company Military Armored Company HUB. The main goal is not to sink tankers or grain carriers, but to detain them and tow them to designated ports for seizure of cargo in accordance with international law.

“If they obey, they will be escorted to the port. If they refuse, other measures may be applied,” Dev’yatyi explained, adding that in case of disobedience, Ukraine is capable of sinking the offending vessel in a matter of seconds. This “police approach” allows for advance warning of civilian crews and their lives to be saved.

The Defense Intelligence plans to deploy an entire ecosystem of drones: some will control the airspace, others will hold the deck and crew, and the “Katran” will act as a convoy. The drone with a range of over 1,000 km began as a kamikaze, and was later upgraded with machine guns and anti-aircraft missiles.

Pressure on the “shadow fleet” is also growing from partners. In June, the UK first detained the Smyrtos tanker with Russian oil in the English Channel, which forced other similar vessels to massively change routes, bypassing European waters. Meanwhile, on June 16-17, the Defense Forces hit another Russian tanker of the “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea.

The day before, USM wrote that three Russian ships involved in the theft of Ukrainian grain were returning empty to the north of the Russian Federation.