Corsair uncrewed autonomous surface vessels (USVs) produced by US company Saronic have been used to destroy a docked Iranian midget submarine at the Bandar Abbas Naval Base, the first US use of kamikaze boats.
That followed another incident last month when a Corsair in search and rescue mode retrieved the two crew members from a US Apache attack helicopter shot down over the Persian Gulf – also a first for a USV.
Saronic is pitching its USVs to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) which possesses no USVs able to perform these type of missions.
Currently, the ADF does operate a growing fleet of Bluebottle USVs, a 7.4 metre wind, wave and solar powered long endurance ocean surveillance craft.
In contrast, Corsair is a powered 7.3 metre vessel with top speed of 35 knots and a range of more than 1000 nautical miles. It has a payload capacity of 450kg.
In a media statement, Saronic said the US military had confirmed that its Corsairs were used by US Central Command in operations against Iran.
“According to CENTCOM, three military variant Corsair unmanned surface vessels struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility at Bandar Abbas Naval Base — the first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations,” the company said.
“We are proud that our technology supported this mission and helped degrade threats to commercial shipping. Saronic remains committed to delivering autonomous maritime systems that strengthen the security of the United States and its allies.”
According to Naval News, the Corsair is one of many drones used by Task Force 59, a dedicated unmanned formation integrating maritime and aerial drone systems from the US and its regional partners.
It said use of USVs in roles such as search and rescue or more combat-related duties have been seen within CENTCOM’s area of responsibility since the beginning of the US-Iran War in March.
“American commanders highlighted the maritime domain awareness picture provided by these sea drones in operations against Iran,” it said.
CENTCOM’s vision of the Bandar Abbas attack, taken from a circling drone and also from the speeding USVs, shows the three vessels converging on a raised section of jetty on which the Ghadir-class submarine is perched under a ship lift crane.
The three Corsairs explode. The vision does not run long enough to gauge the extent of damage. CENTCOM indicated the attack occurred on 12 July.
The rescue of the two US aviators occurred in June, though reporting is light on details about just where or in what circumstances.
Though the US-Iran war has expended vast quantities of not easily replaced munitions from the US inventory, it is emerging as a useful testing ground for new tech.
However, the use of USVs to attack surface targets isn’t new. Ukraine has made extensive use of them to attack Russian warships in the Black Sea, most recently this week when one of its naval drones sank a Russian patrol ship docked in the Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik.
Saronic is named after the Saronic Gulf, site of the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC when a Greek naval force decisively defeated a much larger Persian force.
The company, founded in 2022, established an Australian presence last year, pitching its USV technology to the ADF.
Since January, two Corsair USVs have been operating in Australian waters for testing and evaluation, sailing more than 2,800 nautical miles.
“Corsair is not a prototype waiting for a mission. It is a capability ready for Australia today,” the company said in a recent media report.
“Much of the value of autonomy lies in its flexibility. A vessel conducting commercial maritime surveillance one day can be reconfigured to support critical infrastructure protection the next, before assisting with disaster response or search and rescue operations as priorities evolve.
“For a country defined by distance, where maritime agencies and Defence organisations are often required to cover enormous areas with finite resources, that adaptability has significant practical value.”