The Ukrainian Armed Forces are conducting sea trials of a new unmanned Underwater System named “Marichka”, designed to neutralize enemy warships and maritime infrastructure.

Marichka is an autonomous Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) featuring a 200 kg warhead, developed by the charity AMMO UKRAINE.

Підписуйтесь на телеграм-канал https://t.co/WOnEDgFKjN щоб дізнатися ексклюзиви розробки підводного дрона МАРІЧКА pic.twitter.com/WQABjq842f

— AMMO.UKRAINE (@AmmoUkrain) August 16, 2023

The estimated cost of the UUV in question is reportedly around $433,000.

At this point, it is worth mentioning that similar capabilities are also being developed in Cyprus, as Swarmly and Arkeocean have agreed to cooperate in the field of Autonomous Underwater Systems (AUVs). The agreement was signed within the framework of the 1st Business Workshop between Cyprus and France, which took place on May 16 and 17, 2023 in Nicosia.

Also read: Agreement between Swarmly Aero and Arkeocean in Nicosia for the development of Unmanned Underwater Systems

According to information, the Marichka system is said to have a length of 6 meters and a range of about 1,000 kilometers, while it can carry out missions like kamikaze strikes against ships and maritime infrastructure, cargo transport, or reconnaissance.

The operational range of the system allows it to sail to almost any point in the Black Sea from ports in western Ukraine, while it could also be launched from other Ukrainian warships to be closer to its target.

Little is known about the development program of the Ukrainian UUV. What is certain is that Ukraine wants to upgrade its capabilities in unmanned systems on land and sea. In particular, recently unmanned surface vessels have become a key weapon of Ukraine to launch assaults on ships of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. Read more HERE.

AMMO Ukraine, which describes itself as a charity, has been promoting the UUV in question and has been asking for investments and donations to support its development since August.

Ukraine’s acquisition of such capabilities would force Russia to deploy additional resources in its defence. The Russians have already deployed specially trained dolphins, among other capabilities, around Sevastopol to help protect against underwater threats.

Russian Defense Ministry announced that Ukraine attempted to attack the Ivan Khurs signals intelligence ship of the Russian Navy with 3 unmanned surface vessels (USVs) in the Black Sea this morning.

Moscow released footage allegedly showing the destruction of one of the USVs. pic.twitter.com/YfS7xWSGWw

— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) May 24, 2023

All in all, it remains to be seen what will become of the Marichka and whether it will enter service soon.

With information from: The Drive

Also read: Russia | Dolphins protect the Russian base of Sevastopol in annexed Crimea