Ukraine Converts Naval Drones Into Motherships for Attacks and Interceptors

Ukraine has begun converting its drone boats into motherships that can release attack drones or launch interceptors against Russian targets. Business Insider reported the development after traveling to Ukraine and speaking with arms makers, service members, and defense officials. The vessels started as uncrewed speedboats rigged to collide with and explode against Russian warships.

A unit commander in Ukraine's military intelligence agency GUR told Business Insider that the vessels were required to do more than function as kamikaze platforms. Motherships have been actively tested by advanced Ukrainian units, Vyskub told Business Insider in Kyiv.

In April the Ukrainian military said it destroyed a Russian Shahed drone for the first time using an interceptor launched from a naval drone.

A Wild Hornets spokesperson speaking anonymously at a secret training site near Kyiv told Business Insider that naval drones can serve as a launch platform for the Sting interceptor to defend Black Sea coastal cities. Ninth described an attack in which Russian Coast Guard personnel attempted to stop a group of Katran drones using small-arms fire.

For Ninth's unit strike operations remain the main mission and the unit does not function as a conventional air defense formation, he said.

Wild Hornets is working to make the Sting interceptor compatible with airborne platforms, the spokesperson added. Conflict analysts at the Institute for the Study of War reported in October that Russian forces had been using motherships since at least August 2025 to target Ukrainian logistics routes and positions.