Ahab has gone autonomous. There’s a new type of hunt underway on the high seas and it will reshape warfare and commerce as we know it. ⬇️
No doubt you’ve followed as Ukraine’s uncrewed surface vessels turned a nation without a navy into the tormentor of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. A third of the fleet destroyed or seriously damaged by USVs or long range strike. Naval vessels constrained from combat by precise maritime mass that hunts these white whales in packs. Now Ukraine has turned its autonomous Ahab’s to target the Shadow Fleet:
“Ukraine has struck at least two oil tankers off the coasts of Turkey and West Africa in a campaign against Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, months after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for Kyiv’s partners to strengthen their response to the vessels that Moscow uses to evade international sanctions and continue selling its natural resources.”
The area of operations for Ukraine’s USVs continues to expand long past its littoral waters. While yet to be acknowledged as a Ukrainian strike, the Russian shadow fleet LNG carrier Artic Metagaz was struck by USVs off the coast of Libya, forcing the crew to flee and reducing the ship to ghost ship, burning abandoned on the high sea:
“Russia’s Transport Ministry earlier this month said the Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk, was attacked by Ukrainian naval drones and said the weapons had been launched from the Libyan coast. Libya’s maritime agency reported on March 4 that the vessel was crippled in waters between Libya and Malta after catching fire a day earlier.”
The addressable market for offensive and defensive uncrewed surface vessels is vast. Precise maritime mass can be a game changer. You can’t defend trade worth trillions with small numbers of exquisite navy platforms. This will require a new type of convoy escort capability – the small, the smart and the many will only be defeated by solutions that can defend and defeat affordably and efficiently.
Plenty to consider as precise maritime mass starts to cluster at chokepoints. High density sea lines of communication will surely be targeted soon. Food for thought as always!
📷 via Medium and articles from CBS and the ABC quoted in the article are in the comments.
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