In A Global First, Turkish Kamikaze Sea Drones Sink A Ship In A UAV-Backed Trial

The Albatros-S, a kamikaze seaborne drone created by the Turkish firm ASELSAN, passed its initial test near the coastal city of Mersina. In this trial, one Albatros-S unit sank a 69-meter-long target vessel minutes after a strike.

Notably, every flammable substance on the target vessel was thoroughly cleaned before testing, indicating a conscientious effort to protect environmental well-being.

Kamikaze Sea Drones Sink A Ship In A UAV-Backed Trial — Representation Image

The Bayraktar TB2 observational drone carefully watched the Albatros-S’s operations. The tests also looked into the possibly groundbreaking operation of an Albatros-S swarm — its eight units operating simultaneously — as reported by the SavunmaSanayiST portal.

According to BulgarianMilitary.com, this is the first known idea of a Turkish-made kamikaze boat manufactured in metal to reach execution and complete the initial tests.

According to additional claims from Savunma SanayiST, the Albatros-S project may have drawn design inspiration from an existing multi-functional marine drone model. This existing model, by the way, made headlines in June 2022.

The ASELSAN team spent a little more than a year transitioning from a multipurpose vessel to the kamikaze variation. This would have included time to fine-tune technological subtleties related to the ‘swarm’ application format, while this schedule could have been much shorter.

The Albatros-S is not the only kamikaze boat concept in the works, demonstrating the scope of Turkey’s Defense Ministry’s plans.

The METEKSAN ULAQ KAMA marine kamikaze drone was on display at the IDEF exhibition in July 2023. The uncrewed boat, a product of previous ULAQ family developments, was declared to boast a production capacity of 100 units per calendar year.

References: Daily Sabah, Bulgarian Military

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