US deploys sea drones to attack an Iranian naval base and ship maintenance facility
US Central Command has released footage of drone boats striking an Iranian shipyard in what appears to be the first-ever time that Washington has deployed sea drones in combat.
Three uncrewed surface vessels infiltrated the dock area in Bandar Abbas Naval Base, where they struck a submarine and a ship maintenance facility.
Geolocating the target shows the approach route would have been easy for the Iranians to defend if they had been prepared.
The strikes were carried out by Saronic Corsair USVs operated by Centcom Task Force 59.
It is the same type of drone which had previously rescued an Apache helicopter crew in the Strait of Hormuz on 8 June.
The kamikaze direct impact method of this attack is a technique that the Ukrainian military has successfully used to ravage the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Attack drone boats have been used repeatedly by the Iranians in the Gulf and their proxies, the Houthis, in the Red Sea.
Devil Ray drone
Task Force 59 also operates the T-38 Devil Ray and T-12 Mantas uncrewed surface vehicles built by US company Maritime Tactical Systems (MarTAC).
The Devil Ray drone can act as a mothership for smaller drones, which can carry out attacks.
Last year, MarTAC released footage of an unmanned surface vessel, which had a smaller uncrewed surface vessel nested inside it, which could be used as a direct attack system.
This drone boat is also capable of partly submerging to allow stealthy approaches to targets.
In 2023, the US military also released footage of a T-38 Devil Ray USV launching attack drones from a Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System.
These kamikaze drones are possibly Switchblade 300 loitering munitions, which have an endurance of up to 20 minutes.
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