Russia's Best New A.I. Drones Versus Ukrainian Best New Raiding Boats
The Russians fight back over the Kinburn Spit
This story was commissioned by Euromaidan Press. Since Substack pays only around a fifth of my bills, I have no choice but to take on a lot of freelance work. I still want my Substack audience to know where to read those freelance stories, however. Hence this excerpt.
Twice this month, Russian Geran-4 attack drones—jet-propelled, A.I.-assisted and fast enough to outrun most of what Ukraine can shoot back with—have hunted down the small craft that carry Ukrainian raiders and their machines to the spit. If the campaign continues, it could close the approach that has made the raids possible at all.
On or around Aug. 12 and again on Aug. 15, Geran-4s spotted and attacked boats belonging to the Ukrainian navy flotilla operating in the waters around the Kinburn Spit, which juts into the western Black Sea from Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast.
Russian forces on the Kinburn Spit can monitor Ukrainian maritime traffic, making the narrow sandy spit a key outpost in the ongoing battle for the Black Sea’s most important sea lanes. Ukrainian forces are determined to dislodge Russian forces from the spit. The Russians are determined to cling to their sandy outpost.
The Geran attacks are helping. The Aug. 12 Geran raid targeted a Ukrainian navy CB-90 patrol boat. The 15 August Geran raid targeted a Ukrainian navy tugboat. It’s unclear how much damage the Gerans inflicted, but it’s worth noting that the CB-90 is just 15 m long; a tugboat might be slightly longer. A Geran’s warhead weighs as much as 90 kg—probably enough to sink such a small vessel or burn it down to the keel.
The Ukrainian navy has only a few large warships, and they’re all donated minehunters that have been waiting out the current wider war in the relative safety of European waters. The bulk of the Ukrainian fleet is made up of small patrol boats, auxiliaries such as tugs, and several types of unmanned surface vessels. These vessels defend waterways and ports and, more rarely, support offensive operations.
Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.
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