Britain develops fast attack drone boats for Ukraine
8 January, 2025 Missile-armed boat. Photo: UK Defense Journal The UK government, together with the Ministry of Defense, has announced the development of a universal maritime drone for Ukraine.
The UK Defence Journal reported on this. The Ministry of Defence has announced a Project COOKSON Challenge Session, set to take place on 22 January 2025 in London. Companies and countries that are NATO industry partners, Ukrainian specialists, and Five Eyes countries are invited to participate in the development.
They will contribute to creating a stealthy naval drone designed to perform operations in Ukraine and abroad.
Magura V5 naval drone. Photo credits: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine
According to the MOD, "If you have expertise in vessels, vessel launcher systems, surface-surface effectors, counter air effectors, marinized GNSS hardened navigation, sensors, integrators, autonomous systems, or beyond-line-of-sight communications, this session might be of interest to you." Project COOKSON envisions a small, fast attack vessel equipped with modular payloads that can operate in challenging environments.
The drone must serve as a reusable platform, be resistant to enemy electronic warfare systems, and be able to attack targets even in the event of signal loss. The drone will be equipped with at least two weapons that should hit the target for better effect. The system must fit onto a 13-meter truck, ideally a 6-meter truck.
This will simplify transportation to Ukraine by land, and in some cases, aviation may be involved. The MOD outlined several critical capabilities for the COOKSON system:
- A top speed exceeding 40 knots, even in Sea State 3 conditions.
- A range of 800 nautical miles fully laden and a minimum endurance of 72 hours.
- Low observability and the ability to operate in GNSS-degraded or denied environments.
- The capability to carry multiple (>2) one-way effectors with a high-explosive warhead and a 30-100 km range.
- Hard-kill air defense capabilities to counter threats such as rotary-wing aircraft and ISR drones.
Swift Sea-Stalker USV. Photo credits: Swiftships
Another important factor is the relative cheapness of the product and the possibility of priority production of several marine drones per month with the involvement of British industry and other countries.
Additionally, the Ministry of Defense published technical requirements for the munitions, including an 80kg high-explosive (HE) warhead, a range of 80-100 km, and the ability to attack both surface and coastal targets. Production should be at the level of 20 munitions per month with a priority production launch. Additionally, the integration of machine guns, man-portable air defense systems, and longer-range missiles will be considered.
Initially, production of 2-3 vessels per month is expected within six months of the order.
The purchase of new drones is due to begin in the first quarter of 2025, with the simultaneous procurement of hundreds of munitions to be tested in late 2025 and early 2026.
Militarnyi previously reported that units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces are conducting military trials of Black Widow 2 small kamikaze river unmanned boats.