As the US attack on Iran continues, the Iranian forces debuted their uncrewed surface vessel (USV) during the conflict to strike a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, according to reports. The incident happened about 50 nautical miles north of Muscat, Oman, on Sunday.
According to United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO), the vessel was attacked by an Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV), and the crew has been evacuated to shore, The War Zone reported.
The ship owner said the vessel suffered an explosion and fire after being hit by the “suspected projectile” off the Muscat coast on March 1. One crew member, who was in the engine room, died at the time of the incident.
Though Ukraine has used this Kamikaze drone boat against Russia to sink its warship, this was the first time that Iran has used it to strike ships in the region. The Islamic Republic had been developing the USVs and undersea vehicles capable of launching and had even supplied them to its proxy group, Houthis, to attack ships in the Red Sea during the Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker was one of the four ships that were hit by Iran after the conflict began. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it was shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, some 150 nautical miles to the northwest, after Israel began bombing Iran. “For your information, from now on…no ship of any type is…allowed to pass from the Strait of Hormuz.. From now on, the Strait of Hormuz is banned for all ships, the Strait of Hormuz is banned for all ships,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, via a radio transmission obtained by The War Zone.
As per defence analysts, the USVs have a lot of strategic significance, including a cost-effective means for conducting asymmetric naval warfare. Their advantage is that it complicates traditional naval defence strategies, making it more difficult for conventional forces to respond effectively.
