Ukraine's battle-tested drone boats to be made in US for first time

An American manufacturer will for the first time begin producing drone boats designed and battle-tested by Ukraine as the Pentagon seeks to expand its arsenal of autonomous weapons, Report informs via The Wall Street Journal.

The deal has been struck as the US begins to use sea drones in combat after years of testing and development. American drone boats attacked an Iranian submarine and ship facility at a naval base located on the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month in a kamikaze mission.

A contract between ReconCraft, a US manufacturer specializing in vessels for special operations forces, and Ukrainian enterprise Uforce was signed last week at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington.

ReconCraft co-founder Joe Silkowski indicated that the company aims to produce hundreds or even thousands of uncrewed surface vessels annually. The financial terms of the agreement between the parties remain confidential.

The US Department of Defense plans to allocate tens of billions of dollars toward the procurement of autonomous combat platforms in the coming years.