First-ever battle between two autonomous naval drones 'won' by Ukraine — thanks to a salvo from a remote weapon turret
Ukraine says its naval drone fought another robotic vessel
by https://www.techradar.com/author/efosa-udinmwen · TechRadarNews By Efosa Udinmwen Published 16 September 2026 2 min read
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- Ukraine says its Sargan-3000 drone boat destroyed a Russian counterpart using machine gun fire
- The reported clash involved two unmanned boats fighting directly at sea
- No video has emerged showing the reported destruction of the Russian craft
Ukraine's Navy has announced that a Sargan-3000 drone boat destroyed an armed Russian counterpart somewhere in the waters of the Black Sea.
Kyiv describes the encounter as the first occasion on which two robotic warships have fought each other directly at sea.
That assertion rests entirely on the Ukrainian account, since no independent party has so far confirmed the situation.
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Machine gun fire instead of a warhead
According to the announcement, operatives from Kyiv's military intelligence agency, HUR, located the Russian craft before naval crews steered their vessel toward it.
The kill was reportedly achieved with a Protector RWS, a remotely operated turret armed with a 12.7mm weapon rather than explosives.
Until now, most sea drone attacks have relied on ramming an enemy hull with a warhead aboard, thereby destroying the attacking platform.
Small calibre armament suggests an attempt to preserve the attacking platform for further missions instead of expending it in a single strike.
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