The maker of Ukraine's battle-tested Magura drone is starting work in the US.
Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
Coming on the heels of the US military's first use of naval drones in combat just over a week ago, the maker of Ukraine's battle-tested Magura naval drones is partnering with an American boatbuilder to produce drone boats in the US for the "Arsenal of Freedom."The maker of Ukraine's Magura naval drone, UK-based Ukrainian company UFORCE, is teaming up with US company RECONCRAFT to build uncrewed surface vessels in the US. The American firm is known for special operations watercraft.UFORCE said that through the new partnership, it will "make available to the United States its combat-proven full-stack aerial, maritime, and ground unmanned systems, advanced autonomy software, and command-and-control technologies."UFORCE CEO Oleg Rogynskyy said in a statement that the relationship means that "these combat-proven capabilities will become available to the US, combining Ukrainian battlefield innovation with American manufacturing excellence."He said his company is "exceptionally positioned to deliver capabilities already tested by some of the world's most sophisticated militaries under the most demanding battlefield conditions." He added that "today's combat environments show that autonomous warfighting capabilities are a must-have."Joe Silkowski, the cofounder of RECONCRAFT, which has contracts with the US Navy for its own unmanned vessels, said that working with UFORCE "combines our manufacturing expertise and capabilities with the combat-proven autonomy of the MAGURA platform, allowing us to deliver greater capability to American warfighters faster than developing a new system from the ground up."Naval drones have become one of Ukraine's most effective weapons at sea, allowing it to engage Russia's navy despite lacking a comparable fleet of conventional warships. Those attacks have damaged or destroyed Russian vessels and helped force much of the Black Sea Fleet away from occupied Crimea.
