Sitrep: Why kamikaze drone boats seen in Ukraine war may not pose as big a threat in open seas
Large ships sailing in the open oceans are not at threat from kamikaze drone boats seen in action in the Ukraine war, an expert has said.
Commodore Steve Prest recently retired from the Navy and was on the latest episode of the Sitrep podcast – which analyses the top defence stories of the week and is available wherever you get your podcasts.
He said the Royal Navy "must learn the lessons from Ukraine" but they have to be the right ones – and the threat drones present is not new, even if the technology is.
"I think there's a genuine threat there, but I don't think actually it's very new," he told the podcast.
"The use of fire ships, drone ships to go and attack a fleet in harbour or in very confined waters goes all the way back to antiquity and, indeed, Sir Francis Drake did that and singed the King of Spain's beard famously in Cadiz.
"The technology is new, but the principle is the same."
Cdre (Ret'd) Prest said the lesson taken specifically from Ukraine in the Black Sea is that "fleets in harbour and in very confined waters are vulnerable".
"Well, we knew that," he said. "You only have to look around the Portsmouth area to see the fortifications that were put up in previous eras to protect the ships in harbour."
But he added it would be a "fundamental mistake" to presume the same tactics or threats would prevail in the open ocean because of a specific set of circumstances, successes or failures in the Black Sea.
"The idea that because in Odessa or wherever there have been these attacks using small boats, that somehow that means that our aircraft carriers in the North Atlantic or in the Pacific or the Indian Ocean or wherever would be similarly vulnerable is flawed logic."
Also on the podcast this week was Professor Peter Roberts, a former Royal Navy warfare officer and now a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
He said the main lesson for naval forces, from Ukraine, "seems to be that large ships make excellent targets", but admitted that this is not particularly new.
"Western analysts from across Nato have been saying this for almost a decade," he said.
"Perhaps the way these lessons are being interpreted by various navies in the west is more interesting and revealing."
His comments come after the Defence Secretary announced at least three new ships for Royal Marines.
However, Cdre (Ret'd) Prest said the Government had moved on from new ships being "desirable" and committed to funding them.
"What Secretary of State really confirmed this week was that these, what would have previously been in his words, desirable, despite being in the policy command papers and the strategies, are now funded," he said.
"At least, as he said, for the first three and then possibly up to six in due course," he said.
In an opinion piece for Forces News, he looked at how they can now deliver these ships for the UK Armed Forces.
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