An 81-second video from the Ukrainian Navy shows one unmanned boat chasing another across open water, firing bursts from a machine gun until the target breaks apart and goes under. The navy calls it “the first naval battle in history between unmanned boats.”
The Navy’s account, posted on Telegram, credits two pieces of kit. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) spotted the Russian craft first. Then a Sargan 3000, armed with a Kongsberg Protector 12.7 millimeter remote weapon station, closed in and opened fire. The clip combines onboard camera views with aerial imagery from a surveillance platform that was not identified.
Details are thin. The navy gave no time or location for the engagement, and its first statement did not name the Russian vessel. Reports say it was an Orcan-type drone boat, a small explosive-laden craft Russia has used against Ukrainian ports and naval vessels. The Jerusalem Post, which reported the story, dated the clash to mid-September. The Sargan 3000 has sunk Russian vessels before, but this is the first recorded case of one unmanned surface vessel (USV) sinking another in combat.
Three drone boats, three owners
Kyiv has run USVs against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet since 2022, and by 2026 several platforms were in service under different operators.
The Security Service operates the Sea Baby, used mostly against ships sitting in port. Defence Intelligence owns the Magura, built to go after warships underway; later versions carry air-to-air missiles. The navy runs the Sargan-3000, a multi-purpose boat with a low-profile hull, waterjet propulsion and modular payload options.
Ukrainian USVs have destroyed Russian ships both in port and at sea. According to The Kyiv Post, Ukraine has widened these operations sharply, hitting over 100 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea over the summer.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an April address, listed naval drones among the weapons that “prove that ‘Made in Ukraine’ is synonymous with effectiveness and strength.”
NATO tests
The Sargan-3000 also took part in NATO’s REPMUS exercise (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems) in Portugal in September, alongside dozens of NATO countries testing new maritime capabilities. At REPMUS/DYMS 2025 the Ukrainian Navy led and coordinated the Opposing Force for the first time in NATO’s history. NATO called that “an historic milestone” and said Ukraine’s leadership “brought combat realism to the exercise.”
