Drei körnige Schwarz-Weiß-Videopunkte huschen über einen Hafen, jeder rot umrandet, jeder mit einer weißen Kielwasserlinie auf einen Pier zu. Dann wird der Bildschirm weiß. Dieser 25-sekündige Clip, veröffentlicht vom US Central Command am 13. Juli, markiert den Moment, in dem das US-Militär eine nie zuvor überschrittene Grenze beschritt: Es setzte Seedrohnen zum Töten ein.

The target was Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main naval base at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. The weapons were three Saronic Corsair unmanned surface vessels — robot speedboats packed with explosives, no crew aboard. It is the first time U.S. forces have taken armed sea drones into combat, and it happened on the cheap.

Was tatsächlich geschah

Laut CENTCOM drangen die drei Corsair-Kampfjets in den Hafen ein und trafen eine U-Boot- und Schiffswartungsanlage. Analysten identifizierten dort ein Kleinst-U-Boot der Ghadir-Klasse, das auf einem Kran aus dem Wasser gehoben worden war. Das veröffentlichte Videomaterial kombiniert Luftaufnahmen einer Drohne mit Bordvideos einer der Corsair-Kampfjets auf ihrem Anflug auf den Pier. Dann detonierte das Flugzeug.

The stated goal was narrow and pointed: degrade Iran’s ability to keep harassing commercial ships in the Gulf. CENTCOM did not mince words about the significance.

Das billige Boot, das seinen Zweck erfüllte

The Corsair is not a billion-dollar warship. It is a 24-foot autonomous boat built by Saronic, an Austin start-up, and it is almost defiantly simple: roughly 35 knots, a 1,000-pound payload, and a 1,000-nautical-mile range, with all the computing and autonomy running onboard. Point it at a target, and it drives itself there. One-way. You do not get it back, and that is the idea — it is a fraction of the cost of the cruise missile you would otherwise spend on the same pier.

Die Ukraine hat dieses Drehbuch zuerst geschrieben.

If robot boats blowing up warships sounds familiar, it should. Ukraine has spent two years turning the Black Sea into a graveyard for Russia’s fleet using exactly this idea, and the Houthis have lobbed explosive drone boats at shipping in the Red Sea. Washington is, frankly, late to a party it is now crashing with a bigger budget and a Silicon Valley supplier. The manufacturer was quick to take a bow.

Vom Rettungsschwimmer zum Attentäter in fünf Wochen

Here is the twist that says everything about where this technology is going. This same Corsair type made headlines last month for the opposite reason — a Corsair found two U.S. Army Apache aviators floating in the water near the Strait of Hormuz and shepherded them to a rescue helicopter. Five weeks later, the model that played lifeguard is playing kamikaze. Cheap, expendable, and now blooded, the drone boat has arrived as a weapon of war — and Bandar Abbas is only the opening shot.

Quellen: US Central Command; USNI News; Naval News; Military Times; Breaking Defense; Saronic Technologies.