The War Zone reports that Ukraine has equipped some of their unmanned surface vessels (USV) with machineguns to allow them to respond to Russian countermeasures including helicopters and jet fighters. The video above is from the perspective of the USV.

It is interesting but what if the Coast Guard was in the position of the defenders? The attacker could be any type of small, fast, highly maneuverable, surface craft, manned or unmanned.

Take a look at the video linked here and included in the “War Zone” post. A Russian Border Security Force Kamov Ka-29 helicopter is attempting to stop a USV using both a door gunner and a forward firing gun. What I see:

• It is daylight–advantage helo
• The helicopter is at relatively close range–advantage helo
• The USV is not shooting back–advantage helo
• It appears the helicopter is getting at least a few hits

What I am not seeing:

• Any effect on the surface craft’s speed or maneuverability
• Use of guided weapons that would quickly disable the surface craft at longer range

In this case the helicopter, which is taking no return fire, might be able to stay on top of the surface craft and complete the destruction of the USV, but if that had been the case, you would have thought the video would have included it. For some reason the mission appears to have been unsuccessful. The helicopter may have run out of ammunition or been low on fuel.

If there had been more than one attacking USV and/or their objective was nearby, the time taken to achieve a kill might be critical. If the surface craft has been firing back, the helicopter might have been lost in the attempt.