Iran and its impressive use of remote controlled explosive boats

[Aspen]

I was reading another thread and came across an article that said Iran is using remote controlled explosive boats off the coast of Yemen. That is a fascinating idea, I wish I had thought of it. It would be interesting if Pakistan started to sail some of these into Indian waters. I did some research on it and here is what I found:

Dramatic photos shared by the Saudi government Wednesdaymay show a new form of explosive boat developed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The pictured boat was one of four involved in an attempted attack on an oil tanker 90 miles off Yemen's southern coast that failed, according to the Saudi account. While many details have yet to be confirmed, including that it is a Houthi design, this could indicate a new threat to tanker traffic in the region.

The Iranian-backed Houthi movement are involved in a bloody civil war in Yemen that has raged since 2015. They have used a number of methods to attack tanker traffic and naval vessels in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, including locally designed sea mines, anti-ship missiles and, as seen here, explosive boats.

This new model of explosive boat is based on a skiff, the ubiquitous small fishing vessels used in the region. This means that it could be more easily hidden, and harder to identify as a threat. It may also make it cheaper to build since existing fishing vessels can be converted.

So far the Houthi models have all been remote controlled. In Navy parlance these are Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs). The Houthi models have also been dubbed Waterborne Improvised Explosive Devices (WBIEDs).

On January 29, 2017, an explosive boat hit the Saudi Arabian frigate al Madinah below the helicopter deck, killing 2 sailors, in the first major strike by Houthis using this method.

In September 2018 Yemeni naval forces intercepted a Houthi unmanned surface vessel (USV) in the Red Sea. This was a unique purpose-built design dubbed the Blow Fish. Although it had two cockpits for people its mode of operation also appeared to be as a remote controlled explosive boat.

The new skiff-based model appears to be a significant shift towards a simpler design. This may reflect difficulties in building or hiding the previous versions. Or it could be intended to be harder to identify before it makes its terminal approach.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hisutt...-may-threaten-tankers-off-yemen/#1ab7e5c11ad2

 

[Dariush the Great]

those drone boats of iran been used for years now. they are good,

mix them with that new drone submarines and regular drones, it will be an onslaught on any naval flotilla.

 

[kris]

Innovative tactic. But effective are these when electronic disruption happens?

 

[TheImmortal]

Better to build it completely submerged with just a perescope like Camera infrared device. This will minimize surface movement (waves) that give a warning

 

[xbat]

modern ships have ES/EW suites to detect and break radio signals, if they are not able to break the radio link or something like autonomy from approaching boat ,They can fire with gun/missile/laser etc.

sorry you cant hurt a modern ship with this tactic.

 

[hussainb72]

modern ships have ES/EW suites to detect and break radio signals, if they are not able to break the radio link or something like autonomy from approaching boat ,They can fire with gun/missile/laser etc.

sorry you cant hurt a modern ship with this tactic.

The problem is that people like you dont really think how such a thing will be used in combat. You would focus on the equipment itself without even considering a real combat scenario. Iran isnt the houthis to try sending 1 of such boats alone and trying to get something out of it, and I am sure even the houthis wouldn't really try that but the last time they used it was for testing, but they still killed 2 saudi sailors and injured a couple more.
Iran will use it in a scenario where several fast attack crafts will be moving around, shooting rockets and missiles at the targets. In between those, there will be a couple of these vessels. The ship wont just be targeted by such fast moving targets only, the ships crew will have to worry about all the cruise and ballistic missiles being launched at them. And on top of all that, you can see above that the vessels are equipped with electro optical and IR sensors, so even EW and jamming is used, that thing should have some sort of an automatic target finding algorithm which isnt that hard to implement, which makes it target any ship infront of it. So it's not really as easy to shoot or intercept as u might think and will be able to do work.
Dont comment next time if you dont really know the real capabilities of something.
Thanks

 

[xbat]

Oh thank you Mr Professor! if Houties would target a MILGEM lets see what would happen
-Electronic Support antenna would sense and classify the type of radio signal
-Electro Optic systems would focus on it
-Combat management system identify the target
-EW system would try to break data link
-76mm cannon would target the boat from long distance
-12,7mm guns would target the boat(if it ever can approach)

ah yeah "Dont comment next time if you dont really knoe the real capabilities of something."

 

[hussainb72]

Oh thank you Mr Professor! if Houties would target a MILGEM lets see what would happen
-Electronic Support antenna would sense and classify the type of radio signal
-Electro Optic systems would focus on it
-Combat management system identify the target
-EW system would try to break data link
-76mm cannon would target the boat from long distance
-12,7mm guns would target the boat(if it ever can approach)

ah yeah "Dont comment next time if you dont really knoe the real capabilities of something."

Yes sure, the EW system, the electro optical system, the 76mm cannon, and 12.7mm cannons all targeted the suicide vessel launched by the Houthis, that's why the attack by the houthi vessel wasnt successful in the video below.

 

[xbat]

i said "modern ship"
Houties fired c802 against US ship but intervened by the ship, so they need to invent other methods

 

[hussainb72]

i said "modern ship"
Houties fired c802 against US ship but intervened by the ship, so they need to invent other methods

First of all, the Saudi warships arent that old. They were equipped with radars,EW equipment and electro optical sensors, but they weren't able to detect the vessel and prevent it from hitting the warship.
2nd thing is that a cruise missile is different from such a vessel, as the C-802 missiles are easier to detect using a radar. But the thing is, even such modern systems sometimes cant even function properly. Look at what happened to Aramco. It was targeted by simple drones and missiles, but all those modern systems covering the area did nothing.
And all these that I mentioned are just in the case of a simple attack. In an actual combat scenario, it wont just be as easy as targeting the vessel and the threat is neutralized. You would be facing several different threats under the sea, on the surface and in the air, and in high numbers, so no matter how "modern" the warship or defensive system is, it wont be able to successfully defend itself.

 

[HaMoTZeMaS]

Yes sure, the EW system, the electro optical system, the 76mm cannon, and 12.7mm cannons all targeted the suicide vessel launched by the Houthis, that's why the attack by the houthi vessel wasnt successful in the video below.

I guess modern systems were having party or drinking Gehwa

 

[zartosht]

modern ships have ES/EW suites to detect and break radio signals, if they are not able to break the radio link or something like autonomy from approaching boat ,They can fire with gun/missile/laser etc.

sorry you cant hurt a modern ship with this tactic.

you do realize that it had a succesfull hit on a "modern warship" that was alert in a warzone with presumably all its defensive asssts working??

and this was a 1 off attack. nothing to saturate or overwhelm. I don't know how else you can prove that this works in a real world scenario.

American weapons manufacturers rig a scenario for advertisement, and everyone believes their claims at face value... the power of propaganda....

some people have their heads stuck up sooooo far their rear ends. that even when reality hits them right in the face, they still refuse to accept it.

"western uber weapons never fail!, rogue country weapons are primitive and laughable!! hahaa"
-western propaganda
-western propaganda loving eastern/turkish boys.

 

[xbat]

the Saudi warships arent that old.

Al-Madinah was commissioned in 1985 was hit in 2017, 32 years old!, it doesnt have any modern system, doesnt have combat Management system(i couldnt find it), go mr propaganda!

 

[Mithridates]

Innovative tactic. But effective are these when electronic disruption happens?

it's autonomous.

Oh thank you Mr Professor! if Houties would target a MILGEM lets see what would happen
-Electronic Support antenna would sense and classify the type of radio signal
-Electro Optic systems would focus on it
-Combat management system identify the target
-EW system would try to break data link
-76mm cannon would target the boat from long distance
-12,7mm guns would target the boat(if it ever can approach)

ah yeah "Dont comment next time if you dont really knoe the real capabilities of something."

the boat approaches from backside which most ships do not have any firepower then place itself in side of ship and then blows up.

 

[kris]

it's autonomous.


the boat approaches from backside which most ships do not have any firepower then place itself in side of ship and then blows up.

Autonomous doesn't guarantee protection from electronic disruption