Lesya Leshchenko19:32, 25.06.26

This was the first test of these unmanned boats in the Indo-Pacific region.

U.S. special forces have used Ukrainian Magura naval drones against a decommissioned ship used as a target for the first time during exercises in the Philippines, in what Bloomberg reports is the first test of these unmanned boats in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Just as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have exposed the value of cheap aerial drones, maritime drones are seen as playing a crucial role in the Indo-Pacific region – an area 30 times larger than the continental United States and dominating vast expanses of water,” the publication says.

The publication emphasized that militaries from the United States to China are currently competing to develop and deploy such systems both above and below the surface.

“This is exactly what we need most – distributed, survivable, relatively affordable systems that can help deny China the ability to use the seas around Taiwan and the First Island Chain,” said Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. submarine captain and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, referring to the archipelago that stretches from Japan through Taiwan and all the way to Southeast Asia.

The report also highlights that Taiwan is developing its own such weapons, the Kaui-Chi combat drones, as a key part of its defense strategy. Specifically, the government plans to purchase 1,320 of the drones, at a cost of $888 million.

Also, the head of the U.S. Navy’s unmanned surface ship squadron, Captain Garrett Miller, said he expects thousands of small unmanned ships in the Indo-Pacific region by 2030. Dozens of American companies already produce such systems, including Anduril Industries Inc., Saildrone Inc. and Saronic Technologies Inc.

In addition, Japan has allocated about $600 million for coastal defense drones in the current fiscal year.

(c)UNIAN 2026