Ukraine’s deployment of sea drones marks the beginning of a new era in naval warfare.
The deployment of such USVs is nothing new in naval tactics, as boats with explosives that target other vessels and above-water structures have been in use for centuries, often by irregular forces and terrorist groups. However, their deployment by a state as an asymmetric measure against a much more powerful fleet of another state is a new turn in warfare.

Not to mention that the drones Ukraine has developed are highly sophisticated, capable of traversing huge distances, usually undetectable by radar, and remotely controllable, unlike the boats with explosives. Apart from that, “Ukraine claims that each boat costs a mere $250,000. A single anti-ship missile, by comparison, can cost millions…The boat’s cargo bay can carry 200kg of high explosive to a ship’s waterline where—unlike a hole punched higher up in a hull by a missile or aerial drone—it will cause the vessel hit to ship water and possibly sink.”