Ukraine says it has a new type of river drone to spy on and take out Russian boats

Hard Cat’s Black Widow 2 river drone.

Courtesy of Hard Cat

Ukraine says it’s designed a new type of river drone to target Russian vessels.The Black Widow 2 is also able to perform reconnaissance operations, it said.Ukraine’s military requested it to combat Russian forces and supply runs on the Dnipro River.

Ukraine says it has developed a new type of drone to target Russian vessels deployed on Ukrainian rivers.

Hard Cat, a Kyiv-based drone manufacturer, told Business Insider that the uncrewed river drone, the Black Widow 2, can take out surface targets, including small boats.

It can also carry out reconnaissance and patrolling operations, providing real-time situational awareness, it said, with a maximum speed of almost 25 miles an hour and a communication range of up to 6.2 miles.

And unlike sea drones, which operate in wider bodies of water, the one-meter-long drone’s “compact size and high maneuverability allow it to operate effectively” in narrow waterways and river areas.

Hard Cat told BI the Black Widow 2 river drone has been successfully tested in rear-area conditions.

Courtesy of Hard Cat

Drones have been a hallmark of the war in Ukraine, with both sides using them to attack, surveil, and target more accurately.

Ukraine has heavily targeted Russia’s fleet in the Black Sea using sea drones, with notable effect.

Hard Cat unveiled the river drone’s prototype at the Defense Tech Valley investment summit in Kyiv in October 2024.

It told BI the drone has now been successfully tested in rear-area conditions and is undergoing combat trials with two Ukrainian army brigades. It didn’t say where those trials were taking place.

“Warfare on water is quite specific and comes with unique challenges, making such a small water drone potentially very useful,” it added.

One of the developers, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told BI that they began work on the drone in December 2023, at the request of the Ukrainian military, as a way to counter Russian motorboats used for personnel rotation, supply runs, and reconnaissance.

At the time, Ukrainian troops were fighting to hold out on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, against Russian forces that vastly outnumbered them.

John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told BI that he expects Ukraine to use these new systems primarily on the Dnipro.

“They would probably be most useful in a defensive role, such as striking small vessels carrying Russian assault troops or supplies,” he said, rather than working in conjunction with larger, longer-range naval drones to attack Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Basil Germond, an expert in international security at Lancaster University in the UK, made a similar assessment.

“It is important to understand that Russia not only operates big warships and submarines but also a wide array of small boats that support land operations at the tactical level, especially in the wet areas such as the Dnipro Estuary and other rivers,” he said.

Germond added: “River drones are likely to contribute to operations against these sorts of assets.”