Marine drone operators of the Ukrainian Navy will be trained in Odesa

Operators of unmanned surface vehicles will be trained at the National University «Odesa Maritime Academy».

Captain of the 1st rank Maksym Kiriakidi, Head of the Naval Institute, announced this.

According to him, the institute plans to open a new program called “Unmanned surface vehicles operations.”

“A promising field in the Navy, as the war has brought to light, is the development of unmanned surface vehicles. And starting next year, we plan to create a separate program at the Navy Institute called “Unmanned surface vehicles operations,” the officer said.

In November 2022, Ukraine launched a campaign to raise funds to purchase and set up a fleet of marine drones.

The plan is to raise funds for 100 such drones. The cost of one system is UAH 10 million.

These are multirole surface drones developed in Ukraine.

In addition to the surface drone equipped with autopilot and video subsystems, along with night vision, reserve communication modules, and a warhead, the system includes a ground-based autonomous control post, a transportation and storage system, and a data center.

Drones could be involved in long-range maritime reconnaissance, coastal activity surveillance, escorting and supporting the traditional fleet, convoying merchant ships, adjusting the artillery fire, and striking moving and stationary targets.

The strike drone has the following technical characteristics:

• Length – 5.5 m
• Total weight – up to 1000 kg
• Operational range – up to 400 km
• Range – up to 800 km
• Endurance – up to 60 hours
• Payload – up to 200 kg
• Maximum speed – 80 km/h.
• Navigation – automatic GNSS, inertial, visual

They are primarily needed to protect against Russian naval cruise missile carriers and protect merchant ships from possible Russian attacks. Also, some of the warships of the Russian fleet are stationed in the temporarily occupied ports of Ukraine, so this is a legitimate target for the Ukrainian military.

On October 29 last year, surface drones and unmanned aerial vehicles attacked warships deployed in the Sevastopol Bay in occupied Crimea.