A highly modified and weaponized Yamaha “Wave Runner” jet ski was discovered floating off the coast of Turkey near Istanbul on July 25. The military commentator HI Sutton said on his “Covert Shores” website that the previously unknown uncrewed surface vessel (USV) was another of Ukraine’s kamikaze maritime drones that have caused havoc against Russia in the Black Sea.
Images of the vessel show that it is fitted with an electro-optical sensor turret and a planar satellite communication antenna, as well as other antennas. Various electronic boxes are also fixed to the rear of the watercraft.
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Some reports state that the jet ski was fitted with two explosive warheads contained in black painted cylinders strapped to each side of the machine, although other “experts” suggest these are in fact extra fuel tanks needed to increase the USV’s operating range.
Photos of the craft show an inflatable fender wrapped around the hull, possibly for added buoyancy and perhaps to assist it to overcome man-made or natural obstacles. The USV is fitted with a combined electro-optical/infrared sensor turret over its handlebars. The vehicle’s seats have been replaced by various electronic control boxes and a Starlink antenna, presumablyused for communication and guidance.
The USV doesn’t have any obvious markings identifying it as definitely Ukrainian or not - although there are clues. Handwritten markings on the exterior of one of the rear control boxes seem to be in Ukrainian but its meaning is not clear. There is a sticker also on the rear that says “02,” which could suggest the vehicle is not unique, and what appears to be a “Transformers” sticker on the boat’s forward cowling – probably an engineer’s in-joke referring to the modifications made to the jet ski.
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Turkey’s İhlas News Agency (IHA) released a video of the recovery of the USV:
However, this wouldn’t be the first time that Ukraine has adapted jet skis into attack vessels with similar but different variations being seen in attacks on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and associated infrastructure in 2023. The peeling paintwork and other damage on the USV indicate that it has probably been drifting for some time, perhaps indicating it took part in one of last year’s operations.
However, a note of caution was sounded by the Ukrainian military expert Ivan Kyrychevsky speaking to Espreso TV.
He said, “This is not the first time an unknown marine drone has washed up on the shores of a Black Sea state. This product is not like any we have previously seen and it looks like anything other than a working maritime drone.”
He said that an object washed ashore in Romania earlier in the year that was fitted with a Starlink dish and carried the warhead from a Soviet P-15 Termit anti-ship missile, which Ukraine does not hold in its arsenal.
He suggested that the Romanian device and this could be some form of disinformation exercise by Moscow to persuade that Kyiv’s actions were a threat to navigation in the Black Sea. He suggested the timing, which came shortly after Turkey announced it was joining a mission to clear mines in the Black Sea, may have been more than a coincidence.
The USV has been recovered by the Turkish gendarmerie and is currently undergoing technical inspection and analysis – this may reveal more about its origin and purpose in due course.
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