The U.S. military has reportedly used unmanned surface vessels (USVs) in combat against Iranian military targets for the first time, marking the first publicly acknowledged operational use of naval drones by U.S. forces in such a strike.
According to a statement from the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the attack, carried out overnight on July 12, involved unmanned maritime vehicles targeting facilities in Iran’s coastal zone.
The type of USV used has not been officially identified. However, the platform appears similar to the Variant 7 developed by U.S. company Red Cat, which has been widely described as being inspired by the combat-proven Ukrainian Magura unmanned surface drone.
Red Cat announced plans to produce the Variant 7 in partnership with an undisclosed company in May 2025, with serial production scheduled to begin in the third quarter of that year. The company said the design was based on technology that had accumulated more than 10,000 operational hours in combat.
In August 2025, Red Cat established its maritime division, Blue Ops, to develop and manufacture unmanned surface vessels.
According to the manufacturer, the Variant 7 has an operational range of up to 800 nautical miles, endurance exceeding 60 hours, a top speed of more than 39 knots and a payload capacity of up to 650 kg. The system features an electro-optical day/night sensor suite, acoustic detection capabilities and a redundant encrypted command-and-control architecture with dual satellite communications.
Earlier, during the Balikatan 2026 exercises, a Ukrainian Magura naval drone sank a target vessel as part of a demonstration.
At the same time, Ukrainian manufacturer UFORCE has stated that it has not granted production licences for any Magura-family platforms and remains the sole manufacturer of the system.
