cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12276175
- German startup Stark Defence plans to launch a 24-meter uncrewed surface vessel next year to guard undersea cables and track Russia’s shadow fleet in European waters.
- The Vanta 24 can carry up to 50 metric tons, including weapons like missiles and cannons, and travel more than 40 miles per hour without a crew onboard.
- Stark’s new ship is designed to be deployed within months at a cost that is a thousandth of the price of a manned frigate, which takes years to produce.
…
German startup Stark Defence plans to launch a 24-meter uncrewed surface vessel next year, marking an expansion beyond small drones to more closely resemble an established defense contractor.
The Berlin-based company’s new ship is designed to guard undersea cables and track Russia’s shadow fleet in European waters, Stark’s Chief Executive Officer Uwe Horstmann announced at Bloomberg Tech London on Tuesday.
“Those are systems that cost a thousandth of the price of a manned frigate, which takes years to produce,” Horstmann said. Stark’s maritime vessel “can be deployed within months, so there is a big speed element.”
…
The main problem with the “shadow” fleet lies in the political area, not technical. Those unmanned ships will stay passive and harmless the same way as classical frigates are harmless and do nothing towards Russian ships.
Multiple shadow fleet vessels have been seized tho, for example the Smyrtos and the Tagor. It’s difficult to seize a ship without some form of enforcement. I think this would help both in finding and seizing it.
Some ships were let go again after they were seized, but sometimes they keep crew or payload.
There are 5 hundred of those ships(+/- hundred). Those “seize” operations are below pathetic. They are straightforwardly insulting.