Kamikaze

Just weeks after the U.S. military publicly acknowledged using kamikaze drone boats in combat for the first time, the Navy has confirmed that its Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) uncrewed surface vessel (USV) took part in its first live-fire training exercise. The kamikaze drone boat was employed during RIMPAC 2026, attacking the ex-USS Peleliu in one of the operation’s high-profile sinking exercises (SINKEX). You can learn more about this latest round of SINKEXs here.

On July 24, the Navy released a video showing USVs taking part in the SINKEX in the Pacific Ocean, which targeted the decommissioned Tarawa class amphibious assault ship, but it was hard to tell what the USV in question was. The event itself had taken place on July 17 and saw the former USS Peleliu pummeled by multiple U.S. and allied assets. The video shows significant damage already inflicted on the assault ship, especially around the waterline, and water already being taken onboard. The footage was captured by the second drone boat, as it inspected the damage done by all the fires.

Amazing Footage from USV’s as they Attack the USS Peleliu (LHA 5)

Yesterday, Sarah Weinstein, a Surface Warfare Officer currently serving as the first commanding officer of Unmanned Surface Vessel Division 32, posted on LinkedIn, stating that she was “honored that USVDIV-32 was given the opportunity to execute the Navy’s first GARC Live Fire during RIMPAC 2026.”

A product of Baltimore-based BlackSea Technologies, the GARC is the major platform used by USVDIV-32, a unit that was established early this year. According to the Navy, USVDIV-32 is “tasked with maintaining and implementing unmanned vessels … the division’s sailors regularly conduct exercises and training with multiple platforms, with the most common being Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft, or GARC.”

GARC: The Most Proven Tactical USV

“It was incredible to watch my team execute with precision, and we were thrilled to provide a perspective of the former USS Peleliu that isn’t often captured in a SINKEX,” Weinstein added.

A source familiar with the SINKEX operation today told TWZ’s Howard Altman that there were two GARCs present at the SINKEX, but only one was used destructively in an end-to-end attack. The USV used a full autonomy package, in the shape of Anduril’s Lattice. It carried a 1,000-pound payload, although it remains unclear how much of that weight was accounted for by the warhead. We have reached out to RIMPAC officials and others for additional details.

Other specifications of the GARC include a length of around 16 feet, a full-load displacement of 4,800 pounds, and a range of 700 nautical miles at a speed of 22 knots.

USVDIV-32 took its GARC drone boats to exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2026 last month. On that occasion, the USVs operated alongside the Blue Ridge class command and control ship USS Mount Whitney. The Navy confirmed that USVDIV-32 was providing realistic counter-USV training to NATO allies while in the Baltic.

“The first difficult part is spotting the USV,” Weinstein said at the time. “What does it look like? What are the telltale signs that it might be a USV? How to tell if it’s coming inbound, and its different behaviors that it’s able to display as it gets closer to the ship”

A defining feature of USVDIV-32 is its inclusion of a new rate, Robotics Warfare Specialist (RW), who are trained to operate and maintain vessels such as GARCs.

In a Navy release last month, Chief Robotics Warfare Specialist Christian Butler explained: “I think most commands, if not all commands, are going to have some component of RWs. Just because there’s no going away from unmanned systems at this point, they’re only going to grow in scale, and you’re going to need RWs to carry that weight.”

Before USVDIV-32 stood up, the GARC took part in maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean during the UNITAS multinational maritime exercise in September 2025. This was part of an effort that tested the ability of “unmanned and remotely operated vehicles and vessels [to] extend the capability of interconnected manned platform sensors to enhance capacity across the multinational force,” the Navy disclosed.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels were at the forefront of employing kamikaze USVs operationally. We first reported on the capability in January 2017, after an explosive-laden Houthi drone boat struck a Saudi frigate. The technology traces back to Iran, which developed a variety of rudimentary one-way attack USVs before transferring the capability to its Houthi proxies, who became the first to use them in combat in the Red Sea.

As we have reported extensively, Ukraine has demonstrated the devastating potential of USVs against the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The Magura family of drone boats, among others, has been central to that campaign, and has taken on a wide variety of roles.

Repeated successful strikes against Black Sea Fleet vessels and naval infrastructure forced Russia to relocate much of its fleet from occupied Crimea to the relative safety of bases in mainland Russia.

The U.S. military employed USVs as offensive strike weapons in combat for the first time on July 12 during a wave of attacks against “dozens” of Iranian targets, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). The strikes, which involved Saronic-built Corsair USVs, occurred amid an escalating exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran centered on the Strait of Hormuz. Among the targets of the attack was an Iranian Ghadir class diesel-electric midget submarine.

Earlier this month, another Saronic Corsair USV rescued the crew of a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache that crashed in the Gulf of Oman after it was downed by Iran. That was the first known instance of a drone boat being used to recover personnel as part of a search and rescue mission, and further underscored how the U.S. Navy’s use of drone boats in combat is really ramping up.

As we have discussed in the past, the U.S. military’s employment of drone boats in a kinetic strike role sets a new precedent not only for operations in the CENTCOM area of responsibility, but also for potential conflicts elsewhere. The U.S. Navy now has this capability and is gearing up to employ it in the Pacific, which will be yet another threat to deal with for adversaries. With exercises like RIMPAC, the Navy can evolve its playbook for the employment of USVs as kinetic weapons.

With a mission that includes helping the Navy and its allies counter the growing USV threat while refining offensive concepts of operation for one-way attack drone boats, USVDIV-32 appears poised to play an increasingly important role here. As the service pushes toward a hybrid fleet of crewed and uncrewed vessels, GARC is also emerging as one of its most significant new capabilities.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

For the first time in U.S. military history, uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) were used as a strike weapon in combat. The use of Saronic Corsair USVs took place July 12 during a series of attacks against “dozens” of Iranian targets, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). It came as the U.S. and Iran have continued to trade strikes primarily related to control over the Strait of Hormuz, with President Donald Trump proclaiming he wants to take over the strategic chokepoint and reinstate the naval blockade on Iranian ports. Meanwhile, Iran has also been launching attacks against several Arab nations in the most recent flare-up of hostilities as a shaky ceasefire continues to disintegrate.

“Yesterday, using multiple one-way attack surface drones, CENTCOM forces successfully struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility in Iran,” the command stated on X Monday morning. “Three Corsair unmanned surface vessels hit the port at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, marking the first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations. Last night’s strikes degraded Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial shipping.”

This attack is the latest iteration of the U.S. Navy’s use of drone boats in combat. Last month, a Saronic Corsair USV rescued the crew of a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache that crashed in the Gulf of Oman after it was downed by Iran. That was the first known instance of a drone boat being used to recover personnel as part of a search and rescue mission, and has major implications for these operations going forward. 

“The surface drone that assisted in last night’s rescue of the Apache crew off the coast of Oman was a U.S. Navy Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59,” U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesman, told TWZ at the time. “The task force began fielding these drones in theater in late March.”

Historic sea drone rescue near Strait of Hormuz for Apache helicopter crew members

Established in 2021, Task Force 59 is a testbed unit that is tasked with experimenting with the integration of new uncrewed and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into day-to-day naval operations across the Middle East. It appears that the task force is starting to operationalize those technologies more broadly. Using USVs in an attack role could help reduce the burden on aircraft and crews for strikes, at least against certain targets out to sea and along the coast. Above all else, it creates another vector for kinetic operations against the enemy, which complicates their defensive plans.

In a recent interview with TWZ, Saronic co-founder Rob Lehman declined to provide any details about this mission set or any others Corsair was conducting in the region. However, he did say its success will reverberate across the USV industry.

“I think the tangible impact to the industry is that autonomous systems are now perceived as real credible capabilities rather than a science and technology kind of sideshow where we’re desperately trying to prove that the tech can play a role in these types of operations,” Lehman told us. “So my hope is that not just for Saronic, but all of our partners on the commercial side, that it’s an accelerant to getting more of these capabilities in the war fighters’ hands.” 

As we have frequently reported, Ukraine has used USVs to devastating effect on the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The Magura line of drones, among others, has played a key role in this campaign.

Many successful attacks have been recorded against Black Sea Fleet vessels and facilities, forcing the general evacuation of Russian naval assets from occupied Crimea to bases in Russia proper.

The Houthi rebels of Yemen actually pioneered the operational use of kamikaze USVs years ago. We first reported about this capability in January 2017, when an explosive-laden Houthi USV struck a Saudi frigate. Before that, Iran developed various crude kamikaze USVs and those capabilities soon migrated to their Houthi proxies, which put them to use in the Red Sea for the first time.

You can see the January 2017 attack in the video below.

فيديو يؤكد الهجوم الانتحاري على الفرقاطة السعودية

As we have frequently noted, the U.S. and Iran signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 17. The MoU provided a 60-day extension of the ceasefire to iron out an agreement to end fighting throughout the region, including Lebanon, prevent Iran from seeking nuclear weapons, end U.S. sanctions and resume the flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, among other points.

Control over the Strait has proven to be the biggest flashpoint, as evidenced by the aforementioned flare-up of fighting.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has continued to claim it controls the Strait.

As we noted earlier in this piece, Trump just proclaimed that the U.S. would take over the Strait.

“We hit them very hard last night,” Trump told Fox News. “Every time they send a drone, we hit them very hard. But we had a deal. What nobody knows, we had a deal. It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it. We’ve had 10 deals with these people, and so we’re just going to hit them very hard, and we’re going to keep the Strait, and we’ll probably run it.”

“We’ll become the guardian of the Strait,” the American leader added. “Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the Strait.”

Trump suggested that the U.S. be paid for this effort.

“And we should be reimbursed for that,” he posited. “When we do that, we’re going to be reimbursed because the other nations are very wealthy.”

Trump also took to his Truth Social network to say that he is reinstating the naval blockade on Iranian ports that was removed when the MoU was signed last month. He added that the U.S. will impose a toll on shipping.

“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” the president proffered. “The process and formation will begin immediately.”

The U.S. military using drone boats in a kinetic strike role sets a new precedent not just for operations in the CENTCOM region, but also those in other flashpoints, including the Pacific. It comes as the Pentagon has adopted a number of other capabilities that have been ‘borrowed’ from other conflicts, including the first use of one-way attack drones loosely based on Iran’s Shahed-136, for instance. But it is interesting that these kamikaze drone boats were not deployed at the start of the war, when sea and shore targets were plentiful. That points to the Pentagon still racing to catch-up with some weapons developments from conflict zones overseas or at least at opening the aperture for how and when those technologies are used operationally.

UPDATE: 12:26 PM EDT –

The video released by CENTCOM this morning appears to show one of the Corsair USVs attacking what looks to be a Ghadir class diesel-electric midget submarine.

Given the frequency of U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s key naval base at Bandar Abbas during this conflict, it is unclear how Iran still had any of these vessels left.

As we previously reported, U.S. forces apparently sunk another Ghadir class boat in March. It was struck by an AGM-114 Hellfire missile, a U.S. official told TWZ. At the time, we questioned how many Ghadir class submarines were in Iran’s inventory before the current conflict. However, prior estimates had generally put the size of that fleet at between 16 and 20 hulls.

The Ghadir class boat in the new CENTCOM video was sitting on the dock, so it is possible Iran pulled it out after the ceasefire went into effect. 

UPDATE: 1:01 PM EDT –

Saronic released a statement.

“The U.S. military has confirmed that Saronic Corsairs were used by U.S. Central Command in operations against Iran. According to CENTCOM, three military variant Corsair unmanned surface vessels (USVs) struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility at Bandar Abbas Naval Base — the first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations,” the company stated. “We are proud that our technology supported this mission and helped degrade threats to commercial shipping. Saronic remains committed to delivering autonomous maritime systems that strengthen the security of the United States and its allies.”

UPDATE 2:38 PM EDT –

CENTCOM provided an update on the blockade.

“At the Commander in Chief’s direction, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will resume blockading maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on July 14 at 4 p.m. ET,” the command stated on X. “CENTCOM forces will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas. The U.S. military continues to support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade.”

“The resumption of the U.S. blockade against Iran follows the initial implementation from April 13 to June 18,” the command added. “CENTCOM forces redirected more than 140 compliant vessels, disabled nine non-compliant ships, and allowed over 50 commercial vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass through the blockade during the two-month period.”

“All mariners are advised to monitor Notice to Mariners broadcasts and contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches,” CENTCOM noted. “Additional information will be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notice.”

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

The U.K. Royal Navy has launched a kamikaze drone, the Nyan one-way effector, from a ship at sea, marking a significant step toward the U.K.’s ambition of a so-called ‘hybrid’ naval force. This is just one element of a much broader push toward increased reliance on uncrewed platforms, something that was underscored in the long-awaited Defense Investment Plan, unveiled earlier this week.

During recent trials off the south coast of England, the Nyan one-way effector drone was launched from the experimentation ship XV Patrick Blackett, a platform used by the Royal Navy as a testbed for new technologies.

The trial, known as Exercise Neptune Reach, involved personnel from the Royal Navy’s 744 Naval Air Squadron, 26 Royal Artillery of the British Army, and the Royal Air Force.

In a statement, Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defense Readiness and Industry, said: “Britain is serious about the transition to a Hybrid Navy with new, powerful drones at the heart of the Royal Navy. By bringing together Army and Navy expertise to field strike drones from a ship at sea, we are accelerating the capabilities our forces need to stay ahead of our adversaries.”

The catapult launcher for the Nyan was installed on the ship’s deck. Operators then programmed the drone to fly to a specific target, which it flew to autonomously, while the ship was underway.

Developed starting in 2022, specifically for precision strike, the Nyan was designed and built by Callen-Lenz, a subsidiary of BAE Systems. It is intended to be a low-cost strike platform, with a unit cost of less than £100,000 ($132,000), according to the manufacturer.

The drone has a wingspan of around 9.5 feet and a reported range of more than 93 miles (150 kilometers) — meaning it can hit targets at a greater distance than the Harpoon anti-ship missile. Built mainly of carbon fiber, the Nyan is powered by a small turbojet engine. The design of the drone and its construction include reference to low observability, including a stealthy exhaust nozzle, making it harder for hostile air defenses to detect and destroy.

The Nyan drone and launcher have already been tested extensively during land exercises. During Exercise Spring Storm in Estonia this year, the British Army used the system in support of NATO allies on maneuvers. Thereafter, the British Army’s Royal Artillery adopted the Nyan for operational service.

Ahead of that, the Nyan made its combat debut in Ukrainian hands.

In the maritime context, the Exercise Neptune Reach trials from the Patrick Blackett were part of the wider, tri-service Project Vantage. This is focused on rapidly testing and delivering one-way effectors for the Royal Navy.

“This trial makes a significant step forward in delivering maritime one-way effectors at pace,” explained Lt. Cmdr. David Burton, Maritime One-Way Effectors Capability Sponsor with the Royal Navy. “Under Project Vantage, we are planning to integrate these capabilities into the Hybrid Navy, combining crewed platforms with uncrewed systems to expand reach, increase tempo and enhance lethality.”

The Nyan is already in quantity production, with more than 1,000 units manufactured so far, according to Matt Foster, CEO of Callen-Lenz.

The Royal Navy has said that the recent at-sea trials pave the way for further experimentation and also potential future deployment of the Nyan across the fleet.

Beyond the strike mission that the Nyan is currently equipped for, Callen-Lenz has said that the Nyan could be adapted to carry other payloads, or potentially be scaled up for increased range or endurance.

Interestingly, BAE Systems has also outlined the potential for further trials of the Nyan aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

In its last Strategic Defense Review, published last year, the U.K. Ministry of Defense described how plans for a hybrid naval force would also affect the two carriers and their air wings:

“The Royal Navy must continue to move towards a more powerful but cheaper and simpler fleet, developing a ‘high-low’ mix of equipment and weapons that exploits autonomy and digital integration,” the review stated. “Carrier strike is already at the cutting edge of NATO capability, but much more rapid progress is needed in its evolution into hybrid carrier air wings, whereby crewed combat aircraft (F-35B) are complemented by autonomous collaborative platforms in the air, and expendable, single-use drones. Plans for the hybrid carrier air wings should also include long-range precision missiles capable of being fired from the carrier deck.”

Earlier this week, the Defense Investment Plan noted that the development effort for the hybrid carrier air wing will include trials of jet-powered drones from the carrier. Previous drone trials aboard the British carriers have involved the QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+, an adapted target drone, launched from HMS Prince of Wales in 2021. Subsequently, the General Atomics Mojave short takeoff and landing (STOL) drone was operated from the same carrier in 2023, as you can read about here. The Mojave’s impressive STOL capabilities meant that no launch and recovery systems were required for these tests.

Beyond catapult-launched drones like the Nyan, the Royal Navy has a longer-term ambition for ‘cat and trap’ drone operations aboard its carriers, under an effort named Project Ark Royal.

If successful, Project Ark Royal will see the two carriers start to operate drones that can undertake a variety of missions and then increasingly heavier, complex, and higher-performance ones. In the past, General Atomics has pitched to the Royal Navy a carrier-capable fifth member of its Gambit drone family, intended to fit into a future air wing aboard the U.K. carriers.

Later on, full catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) capability could even add fixed-wing crewed aircraft, as we have explored in the past.

Of course, the United Kingdom is not alone in these aspirations, with China and Turkey, most notably, also increasingly exploring using drones aboard big-deck amphibious warfare vessels and other non-conventional-takeoff-and-landing aircraft carriers.

For the time being, the Nyan represents a fairly modest strike capability. Based on its range, what is likely a relatively small warhead, and subsonic performance, it is best understood as a low-cost tactical precision weapon. It lacks the reach and payload of the kinds of long-range precision-fires capabilities that the U.K. Armed Forces are increasingly looking to develop. However, it is an affordable means of engaging targets at relatively short distances and could be particularly effective if launched in large numbers and from a variety of platforms. As we have explored in the past, quantity has its own advantages in this context, and launching swarms of these at enemy ships or shore targets would make them very hard to defend against.

At the same time, experience with the Nyan in a maritime environment will help pave the way for introducing more capable drones.

As such, the successful at-sea launch of the Nyan drone marks an important milestone in the Royal Navy’s transition toward a hybrid naval force.

More generally, by demonstrating the ability to deploy low-cost, autonomous strike drones from a moving ship, the trial highlights the U.K.’s commitment to expanding precision strike capabilities and expanding its use on uncrewed platforms.

As the Royal Navy continues to experiment with ship-based drone operations, including air wings featuring uncrewed systems, these kinds of assets are set to play an increasingly important role, complementing traditional platforms and enhancing the fleet’s overall combat effectiveness.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com