Training course: the Navy has started to train operators of uncrewed boats
The Russian Navy has started training operators of uncrewed boats. When developing the course, the experience of using BECs during a special military operation was taken into account. Experts note that crewless boats will play a prominent role in the future and personnel to operate these drones should be trained now.
Course for operators of uncrewed boats
A new training course for uncrewed boat operators has been included in the Russian Navy's combat training program. It consists of theoretical and practical training. Moreover, some of the activities will be held in the dark, sources in the Defense Ministry told Izvestiya.
Interlocutors of the publication noted that now the Armed Forces are actively updating the existing and developing new training programs for servicemen based on the experience gained during the SSO - the training course for BEC operators is one of them.
A BEC operator is like a ship commander, but he controls a watercraft without a crew, military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia.
- He must be able to maneuver and evade the enemy - uncrewed boats have their own nuances in guidance," he specified. - The enemy was the first to use them. Of course, not without the help of Western sponsors. They called the devices in Ukrainian, but, in fact, these BECs are British and U.S. developments. And they got on our nerves, especially at first. In particular, during the attack on the Crimean bridge. Now we have become accustomed to destroying them from the sea - we have put additional weapons on ships - and from the air - with the help of aviation. During the strategic exercises that we held this year in all fleets except the Black Sea Fleet, we set combat tasks to destroy marine drones.
Since we have BECs, it means that we need drone pilots, the expert noted. In the existing realities, in his opinion, the test of their training results will be in combat conditions.
- With the help of these drones we can destroy port infrastructure, ships, although there are virtually none left in Ukraine," he said. - BECs can perform reconnaissance functions, be equipped with air defense and strike means. It is not excluded that not only aerial drones will be recognized as a separate branch of troops, as the president said, but also separate units for BECs will be created in the navy. And they will play an important role.
Military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia that so far it is well known that the AFU is using uncrewed boats against us.
- "There is almost no information about ours," he told Izvestia. - But the BECs can be used not only in the SSO zone. They are installed on minesweepers, which are currently under construction. And at the exhibition "Army-2024" an engineering version of the BEC for demining was presented.
The expert noted that it makes no sense to use BECs for strikes against enemy ships now because Ukraine does not have them.
- But, perhaps, they can be used to clear certain parts of the sea area. In 2022, the AFU threw a lot of mines in the Black Sea, - said Dmitry Boltenkov.
Also, according to him, the BECs could become fighters of the enemy's surface marine drones.
- The task is not easy, but it is solvable, - he noted. - It is necessary to decide on a guidance system that would allow destroying a high-speed target. The simplest way is to make a BEC-kamikaze, which is aimed at the enemy's watercraft with the help of a video picture. This is how, for example, aerial FPV drones work.
Domestic BECs
Now Russia is also developing crewless boats. Earlier "Izvestia" wrote that a marine drone created at the Kingisepp Machine Building Plant was prepared for testing in the area of the NWO.
The prototype of the product is a crewless hydrographic boat "Vizir", which was first presented at the exhibition "Army-2023".
This BEC can hit both sea targets and objects at the water's edge, such as enemy coastal bases or port facilities. Depending on the equipment, the boat can be used as a cargo delivery vehicle, an interceptor of enemy maritime drones or a carrier of aerial reconnaissance UAVs.
Crewless boat "Vizir"
Their size, shallow draft and low stealth allow them to be used in the channel of the Dnieper or other large rivers. The BEC can carry a payload of up to 600 kilograms, its range is up to 120 nautical miles, and its speed is up to 45 knots.
Fighting robotic platforms
Izvestia also reported that the Russian Navy has begun to master a new combat training program - on anti-robot defense (abbreviated as RDP). It provides training for the crews of ships and entire ship formations in countering uncrewed boats and unmanned aerial vehicles. The program includes exercises in firing at surface and airborne small targets.
The new course will first train the crews of individual ships and then formations. To combat the new threat, the crews have received additional armament - large-caliber machine guns, antirock and pump-action rifles, night vision devices and other special equipment.
Also, a complex of active defense against uncrewed boats and underwater drones was developed for the Navy, Izvestia reported earlier. This is a special underwater barrier with charges installed on it. When sea drones approach, it is remotely detonated, destroying the enemy's watercraft. It can be placed at the entrance to ports or on external roads, where attacks by uncrewed boats or underwater drones can be expected.
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