Seaborne drones are "a threat to us all"

Unmanned drone warfare is most associated with missile-carrying plane-like contraptions wheeling over desert battlefields. But that is changing quickly. The BBC recently – and rather excitedly – described a ‘wolfpack’ of seaborne drones being tested off Scotland.

The five 7.2 metre craft practiced ‘swarming’ British navy ships. These so-called ‘Rattler’ boats were being operated from 500 miles away in Portsmouth. These are Unmanned Surface Vehicles, know as USVs. The BBC report also confirmed that the drones would have ‘autonomous’ capacity:

Latest news article:

Royal Navy tests remote-controlled USV swarm in milestone trialhttps://t.co/w73SGMbhOL pic.twitter.com/cQO087WzDC

— Navy Lookout (@NavyLookout) October 31, 2025

Gloating over UK drone capabilities

A Royal Navy commander from the Disruptive Capabilities and Technologies Office (DCTO) said:

We have been using autonomous systems for some time but not like this. It is a technology that will continue to develop and it will fundamentally change the way we fight.

And the Royal Marine officer in charge was triumphant, telling the BBC it was an “important” moment in navy history:

It is the first time we have been able to field a capable, mission ready, deployable un-crewed system at sea and it is the first major success for the DCTO.

The work that FXS, the Coastal Forces Squadron, Royal Marines and Army have done to develop not just the platforms but the way we train them and the way we fight with them has been astonishing and completed in record time.

And he’s right, it is a benchmark for the British. But other countries are ahead of the game – Israel and Ukraine being just two of them.

Sea-going drones in Ukraine and Israel

Israel was reported to be using USVs in May 2025. Both the Jerusalem Post and Ynet referred to operations to protect ‘economic waters’:

The vessels have the capability to build a comprehensive maritime picture and are engaged in monitoring and characterizing vessel movements within the economic waters.

The information collected from these vessels is documented and used by the IDF for threat analysis and force deployment in the maritime space, as well as in the mission of protecting Israel’s strategic assets. These vessels represent a significant enhancement to the defensive capabilities within Israel’s economic waters.

Ukraine has been using surface and submersible drone for several years for surveillance among other tasks:

Russia is also using seaborne drones, with the contested Black Sea becoming a key theatre in the process.

A 2024 report by the monitoring group Drone Wars examined this arms race. It also explores the burgeoning US and Chinese USV programs.

Of the UK’s USV ambitions, Drone Wars said:

The Navy sees maritime autonomous systems as a ‘major component of the future fleet’, operating on
and under the sea and in the air on both front line logistics and support tasks.

The Next Wave

The report, titled ‘The Next Wave’, details the Navy’s secretive drone program:

The Royal Navy has set up an ‘Autonomy and Lethality Accelerator’ unit, branded NavyX, as part of its Develop Directorate to develop, test and trial new naval technology and rapidly bring it into operation.

They explain that:

With a base at the Defence BattleLab innovation centre in Dorset, NavyX operates the Navy’s new maritime experimental platform, XV Patrick Blackett, bought to support trials of autonomous systems and other new technology.

The XV Patrick Blackett is where the Scottish done tests were piloted from, according to the BBC.

You can see this unusual experimental vessel in use here:

The Royal Navy took part in Exercise Repmus for the biggest autonomous war games of the year.

Experimentation ship @XVPTBK, divers from @RN_DTXG, and other specialist units joined over 15 partner nations to test nearly 100 uncrewed systems. pic.twitter.com/kBHSo22WZC

— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) September 28, 2023

Dangers of autonomy

Drone Wars director Chris Cole told the Canary:

The notion that we should consider the introduction of military autonomous drones into the maritime domain is as nonsensical as it is short-sighted. A decade ago the same politicians and commentators were hailing the advent of aerial drones only for the technology now to be recognised for what it is, a threat to us all.

He added:

For military and political leader to suggest the proliferation of these systems into the world’s seas and oceans is something to be celebrated while at the very same time urging military companies to ratchet-up the production of counter-drone systems is sheer hypocrisy.

From Gaza to Venezuela and beyond, drones are now commonplace in warfighting. But it remains the case these are usually airborne. Advanced seaborne drones are a newer phenomenon, and the threat they pose is even less clear than that offered by their airborne cousins.

Featured image via the Canary