Ukraine creates special naval brigade of 'kamikaze' boats

Defense Express writes that this news indirectly confirms the data on the deployment of mass production of such weapons for war at sea.

On August 24, 2023, on the occasion of the 32nd Independence Day of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented awards to military units and battle flags with ribbons and honorary names during the celebrations. Among the military units mentioned in this list is the 385th Detached Brigade of Special Purpose Naval Unmanned Systems of the Ukrainian Navy.

This means that for the first time in history, the Ukrainian Navy has formed a separate brigade for 'kamikaze' drones, which demonstrates how many such weapons we have for war at sea.

"The very fact that a separate special forces brigade with 'kamikaze' boats has been created within the Navy indirectly confirms the words of the Main Intelligence Directorate chief Kyrylo Budanov that "normal mass production" of this type of weapon has already been established, and that it is no longer a matter of "semi-cottage industry" in garages," the company writes. 

Moreover, when 30% of marine drones hit their intended targets, but the other 60-70% are destroyed by the occupying Russian forces, the very fact of switching to mass production is, in principle, a necessary condition for continuing attacks on the Russian Black Sea Fleet using 'kamikaze' boats.

"In turn, the fact that a special forces brigade with marine drones was created within the Ukrainian Navy also demonstrates that every attack using this type of weapon is actually the result of coordinated efforts of several components of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, i.e. the national fleet and special services," Defense Express notes. 

Before the Magura V5 appeared, open sources had already confirmed that Ukraine was using four different types of 'kamikaze' boats, and the Sea Baby drone, which became known from the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, is the sixth type of 'kamikaze' drone at the disposal of our defenders.

Against this backdrop, the question of how 6 different types of 'kamikaze' drones can coexist within the same naval brigade is particularly interesting. But this question is not yet answered in the public domain.

• On August 16, Ukraine’s Security Service Chief Vasyl Malyuk said that the maritime surface drones that attacked the Crimean bridge, the Russian landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak and the SIG tanker are the SBU's own technical development.