The Royal Canadian Navy is experimenting with explosive-packed drone boats, turning lessons learned from Ukraine’s war with Russia into a “new operational concept” for Canada’s maritime forces.
The first test of the concept came during a multinational naval exercise that concluded earlier this month off the west coast of Vancouver Island, where one explosive-laden vessel was driven into another uncrewed boat and detonated.
The drone boats, known officially as Hammerhead uncrewed surface vessels, are typically used by the navy as remote-controlled targets to mimic small speedboat attacks on larger ships.
