Ukrainian Defense Forces receive small riverine drones
7 January, 2025 Video from a riverine drone camera. Freeze frame from Suspilne video Units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces are conducting military trials of Black Widow 2 small kamikaze river unmanned boats.
Brave1 technology cluster announced this with reference to a report by Suspilne. The new drone is 1 meter long, weighs 8 kg, and has a range of up to 10 km. It can reach speeds of up to 40 km per hour and has an onboard battery that lasts several hours of operation.
If necessary, the boat can be put into standby mode for several days while waiting for a target. "We are also FPV, but on water," the designer explains.
Video from a riverine drone camera. Freeze frame from Suspilne video
The drone is equipped with a camera on a rotating platform that can rotate both horizontally and vertically.
The camera can also operate at night. The payload is 3 kg, which, according to the developer, is enough to destroy small boats and boats. Controlling an electric boat that is only 1 meter long seems like child's play, but the vessel is more dangerous than you might think.
In addition to spying and reconnaissance missions, a river drone loaded with kilograms of explosives can easily sink Russian boats. According to the developer, the development of the river drone was launched in 2023 at the request of the Ukrainian military, which needed to counteract the rotation of Russian troops on the islands on the Dnipro River. The drone is currently being tested in two brigades of the Armed Forces.
The new drone reportedly costs less than UAH 100,000, and the company is capable of producing up to 100 boats per month. The prototype of this drone was first shown during the Defense Tech Valley investment summit in October 2024.
At the time, the developers shared with Militarnyi's correspondent that a boat designed to clear anchor mines is also being developed in addition to the kamikaze version.
In addition to these two versions, the company is also developing a third, larger version of the river drone.