The manufacturer KMZ announced that it is preparing to deliver a series of unmanned boats to the Russian military, and they will be tested in operations in Ukraine.
"The Russian Ministry of Defense has agreed to receive 10 Vizir-class unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), the first of which will be delivered by the end of this year and will undergo real-world testing in special operations," said Mikhail Danilenko, CEO of the Kingisepp Machine-Building Plant (KMZ), on November 26.
This is a rare instance of Russia announcing the use of unmanned boats in the conflict in Ukraine, after Kyiv achieved significant success in this field and developed several models of suicide boats that inflicted heavy losses on Russian warships in the Black Sea.
The Vizir unmanned boat prototype was displayed by KMZ in June. Photo: RIA Novosti
Vizir is a versatile unmanned boat capable of performing multiple tasks such as patrolling, attack, transporting troops and cargo, and hydrographic surveying. Its hybrid electric motor allows Vizir to operate within a radius of 600 km in economy mode, or 200 km when accelerating to 80 km/h.
The boats are constructed from fiberglass, have a payload capacity of approximately 500-600 kg, and can be equipped with machine guns, light missiles, small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launchers, and anti-UAV systems.
Director Danilenko added that the Vizir can also be fitted with hundreds of kilograms of explosives and become a suicide boat if necessary. The deployment area of this type of boat in Ukraine has not been disclosed.
Ukraine has recently increased its use of suicide boats to attack expensive Russian warships in the Black Sea region. The effectiveness of these suicide boats has led to them being considered a weapon that could change the course of naval warfare.
Meanwhile, Russia rarely deploys this type of weapon to attack adversaries, primarily relying on warships to launch cruise missiles. The first and only time to date that Russia has publicly disclosed the use of unmanned boats was in an attack on a key railway bridge in the Odessa province of southern Ukraine in February.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict situation. Graphic: WP
Deploying armed unmanned boats allows Russia to limit casualties among its waterway patrol forces while increasing its ability to strike key enemy positions in the Odessa and Mykolaiv provinces, as well as the area along both banks of the Dnieper River that Kyiv is trying to gain control of.
Vu Anh (According to RIA Novosti, Drive )
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