US military sent explosive drone boats into combat for the first time
US military sent explosive drone boats into combat for the first time
美国军方首次将爆炸性无人艇投入实战
For the first time in its history, the US military sent explosive-laden drone boats into combat by attacking an Iranian midget submarine and naval port. The unprecedented use of such kamikaze sea drones by the United States comes nearly a decade after Iranian and Houthi forces first demonstrated such weapons. 美国军方历史上首次将装载炸药的无人艇投入实战，攻击了一艘伊朗袖珍潜艇和海军港口。美国此次史无前例地使用此类“神风特攻”式海上无人机，距离伊朗和胡塞武装首次展示此类武器已过去近十年。
The US military shared a video showing three “one-way attack surface drones” exploding after approaching an Iranian midget submarine and ship maintenance facility at Iran’s Bandar Abbas Naval Base on the night of July 12. US Central Command, the US military combat command responsible for Middle East operations, described the strikes in a social media post as the “first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations.” 7月12日晚，美国军方分享了一段视频，显示三艘“单向攻击水面无人艇”在接近伊朗阿巴斯港海军基地的袖珍潜艇和船舶维修设施后发生爆炸。负责中东行动的美国中央司令部在社交媒体上发文称，这是“美军首次在作战行动中使用海上无人艇”。
The US drone boats were able to “make a low-speed, uncontested approach” to their targets before exploding, according to USNI News, a news service from the nonprofit US Naval Institute. USNI News also identified one of the targets as an Iranian Ghadir-class midget submarine that was out of the water while being suspended from a gantry. 据非营利组织美国海军研究所旗下的新闻服务机构 USNI News 报道，这些美国无人艇在爆炸前能够“以低速、未受干扰的方式接近”目标。USNI News 还确认其中一个目标是一艘伊朗“加迪尔”级（Ghadir-class）袖珍潜艇，当时该潜艇正被吊在龙门架上进行维修。
The technology behind the strikes involved Saronic Corsair autonomous surface vessels developed by Saronic Technologies, a defense company based in Austin, Texas. The company’s website describes the drone boat as being 24 feet in length and capable of carrying up to 1,000 pounds over 1,000 nautical miles at a top speed surpassing 34 knots. 此次打击背后的技术涉及由总部位于德克萨斯州奥斯汀的国防公司 Saronic Technologies 开发的“海盗”（Corsair）自主水面舰艇。该公司网站介绍称，这种无人艇长24英尺，能够携带高达1000磅的载荷航行超过1000海里，最高时速超过34节。
Such Corsair drone boats supposedly have the capability to operate autonomously without direct human control, including long-range navigation and patrol missions along with regulating power consumption and engine use to loiter at a specific position, according to a Saronic blog post. They are designed to perform a wide variety of missions and were likely equipped with explosives for this specific strike. 根据 Saronic 的一篇博客文章，这些“海盗”无人艇据称具备在没有直接人工干预的情况下自主运行的能力，包括远程导航和巡逻任务，以及调节功耗和发动机使用以在特定位置徘徊。它们被设计用于执行多种任务，并很可能为此次特定打击配备了炸药。
This marks the second notable US military use of drone boats during the war, which began with the United States and Israel attacking Iran on February 28, 2026. The US military already used a Corsair sea drone to rescue two US Army helicopter pilots in the waters off the coast of Oman on June 8, after their US Army AH-64 Apache helicopter was taken down by a cheap Iranian Shahed drone. 这是自2026年2月28日美以两国袭击伊朗引发战争以来，美军第二次显著使用无人艇。6月8日，在美军一架 AH-64“阿帕奇”直升机被廉价的伊朗“见证者”（Shahed）无人机击落后，美军曾使用一艘“海盗”海上无人艇在阿曼海岸附近水域营救了两名陆军直升机飞行员。
A history of drone boat violence
无人艇作战的历史
The United States is far from the first country to have used exploding drone boats, also colloquially described as kamikaze or suicide drone boats. The first confirmed use of such weapons occurred on January 30, 2017, when the Houthi faction based in Yemen struck the Royal Saudi Naval frigate Al Madinah using an uncrewed remote-controlled boat. A US Navy commander told Defense News that the Houthi weapon was likely developed with the technical assistance of Iran, which has long supported the Houthis. 美国远非第一个使用爆炸性无人艇（俗称“神风特攻”或“自杀式”无人艇）的国家。此类武器首次被证实使用是在2017年1月30日，当时也门胡塞武装使用一艘无人遥控艇袭击了沙特皇家海军的“麦地那”号护卫舰。一位美国海军指挥官告诉《防务新闻》，胡塞武装的这种武器很可能是在长期支持他们的伊朗的技术援助下开发的。
In more recent years, the Ukrainian military has also developed and deployed drone boats for asymmetric warfare at sea since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite lacking a traditional navy, Ukraine has used a combination of flying drones and explosive drone boats to strike Russian warships and tankers, forcing Russia to withdraw its Black Sea Fleet to bases farther from Ukraine and cutting off vital Russian shipping routes. 近年来，自2022年2月俄罗斯对乌克兰发动全面入侵以来，乌克兰军队也开发并部署了用于海上非对称作战的无人艇。尽管缺乏传统海军，乌克兰通过结合使用飞行无人机和爆炸性无人艇打击俄罗斯军舰和油轮，迫使俄罗斯将其黑海舰队撤退至远离乌克兰的基地，并切断了俄罗斯重要的航运路线。
Ukrainian drone boats have also achieved several milestones in military history by using missiles to shoot down Russian helicopters and acting as surface platforms to deploy small flying drones to strike Russian air defenses. Most recently, a Ukrainian drone boat even deployed an armed ground robot onto contested coastal territory in an unprecedented amphibious operation. 乌克兰无人艇还在军事史上创造了多个里程碑，包括使用导弹击落俄罗斯直升机，以及作为水面平台部署小型飞行无人机以打击俄罗斯防空系统。最近，一艘乌克兰无人艇甚至在一次史无前例的两栖作战中，将一个武装地面机器人部署到了有争议的沿海领土上。
It’s unclear how the US military may continue deploying drone boats as President Donald Trump once again ramps up the war with Iran following the collapse of a supposed ceasefire. The US drone boat strikes came as part of a broader attack by conventional US military forces on Iranian targets in recent days, including strikes by US fighter aircraft and warships. 随着唐纳德·特朗普总统在所谓的停火协议破裂后再次加剧与伊朗的战争，美军将如何继续部署无人艇尚不清楚。此次美国无人艇袭击是美军常规部队近日对伊朗目标进行更广泛打击的一部分，其中包括美国战斗机和军舰的打击行动。
The US military has also been using one-way aerial attack drones for the first time during its war with Iran—LUCAS drones based in large part on Iranian-developed Shahed drones. Along with the drone boats, the United States is following the example of less powerful countries or factions that have used inexpensive drone weapons to pursue asymmetric warfare. The US military is currently trying to procure a new generation of cheaper surveillance and strike drones, especially after losing dozens of costly hunter-killer Reaper drones collectively worth more than $1 billion in the war against Iran. 美军在与伊朗的战争中也首次使用了单向攻击型空中无人机——即主要基于伊朗开发的“见证者”无人机而制造的 LUCAS 无人机。除了无人艇，美国正在效仿那些使用廉价无人机武器进行非对称战争的弱小国家或派系。美军目前正试图采购新一代更便宜的监视和打击无人机，特别是在对伊战争中损失了数十架总价值超过10亿美元的昂贵“死神”察打一体无人机之后。