Russia Now Has a Working Suicide Drone Boat of its Own

 

Russia's defense ministry has released new footage of what appears to be a previously-unseen drone attack boat, similar in concept to Ukraine's successful Magura V5. 

The test was performed during the large-scale "July Storm" exercise in the Baltic. The test footage's resolution is low, and it is difficult to determine the boat's dimensions, but it is clearly a small unmanned speedboat operated by remote control. The video shows it make contact with a stationary test barge, and a massive explosion follows. Russian reviewers suggested that the size of the explosive payload was significantly improved over other versions. 

There is no after-action footage to show the extent of the damage (or whether the barge stayed afloat), but it's clear that Russia is developing a bomb boat with comparable destructive power to Ukraine's Magura - assuming that Russian forces have similar command and control capabilities. 

Ukraine's forces have had so much success with sea drones because of access to secure, high-bandwidth communications links for command and control over the horizon (Starlink). The drones are remote-controlled by human operators during their final approach to target, and without satellite connectivity, they would not be possible to guide from hundreds of nautical miles away. Russia does not have (authorized) access to Starlink, but it is working hard to implement something like it - the Bureau 1440 project - by 2027. 

Russia's navy has been putting resources into the hardware side of the problem. In 2024, it stood up dedicated drone units to operate unmanned systems for a range of purposes, from reconnaissance to combat. It also set up an indoor, year-round test facility in St. Petersburg to support capability development. The Russian military has begun using these drone systems quietly, according to analyst H.I. Sutton, who warns that more activity may be to come. 

"We're not seeing large numbers of the same [Russian] drones used systematically, but I think that's coming. Expect them to be used more and more in the Black Sea, especially against the Odesa area," Sutton said in a video update. "This has actually been happening and has been reported in media a little bit, but it's probably more common than is reported."