MATILLA, J. AGUIRRE y JUAN C. SÁNCHEZ / EL MUNDO
Russian “Gerbera” drone, downed by Ukrainian border guards in Sumy region of Ukraine on 5 January 2025.
It has always seemed way too easy to discretely launch a swarm of drones from a merchant ship. You might think they would be limited by the number of operators, but really they can be programmed to fly directly for known geographic coordinates, and AI is opening up possibilities of autonomous attacks on moving targets.
This suggests that cutters need to be armed to take down drones, not just for self-defense but to protect important potential targets.
“The CIA has warned European countries of a suspected Russian plot to launch Gerbera-type drones from aboard commercial vessels in the Mediterranean, a new report says.
“Major Spanish daily El Mundo published the article, which was based on testimony from an anonymous Lithuanian intelligence source, late Wednesday local time.
“According to the paper, the CIA had assessed that Spain, France or Italy may be the targets of these attacks, with drones launching from international waters in the Mediterranean and traveling to the coastal countries over the course of an hour or two.”
