Ukrainian Navy claims first USV-on-USV kill
Screengrab of a Ukrainian Navy video showing a Sargan 3000 USV using its Protector RWS to engage and destroy a Russian USV. (Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)
The Ukrainian Navy said in a video posted on social media on 12 September 2026 that it has achieved a world first destruction of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) by another USV.
In the video the service claimed that a Sargan 3000 USV (also known as Seawolf) had used a Kongsberg Protector remote weapon station (RWS) with a 12.7 mm machine gun to destroy a Russian USV in the Black Sea.
The Navy said that the operation had been conducted in cooperation with Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU, also known as HUR: Holovne Upravlinnia Rozvidky). DIU had identified the Russian USV before the Sargan 3000 engaged it with the RWS.
In the video, the Sargan 3000 fires several bursts of gunfire at the Russian USV and maintains firing even as the USV eventually sinks. The video showed several camera angles of the engagement, including a feed from the RWS, a second feed from aboard the USV but behind the RWS, and a third from what was likely an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) observing the engagement.
The Sargan 3000 entered service with the Ukrainian Navy in April 2026. An electronic warfare (EW) variant of it is assessed by Janes to have detonated in the Port of Constanța, Romania, in June 2026 following a loss of control due to Russian EW. In July 2026, the Ukrainian Navy claimed to have sunk the Russian Federal Border Guard Service Rubin-class patrol ship Izumrud using a one-way attack variant of the Sargan 3000.
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