Kamikaze boats, like drones but on water; how small boats can sink massive ships

The global economy has been deprived of nearly 20% of its fuel supply by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians have closed the crucial waterway by threatening the ships that pass through the waterway that is just 39 kms wide at its narrowest point. The Iranians have threatened to use kamikaze or suicide boats to target these ships. This is now the biggest threat to international shipping if they try to traverse through this important waterway.

The Americans have destroyed the vast majority of the Iranian Navy's major combat vessels. This destruction of vessels includes the sinking of the IRIS Dena and the Iranian drone carrier ship IRIS Shahid Bagheri. Iran's physical control of the Strait of Hormuz now depends on its vast fleet of small mosquito boats. These boats are armed with rockets, missiles, heavy machine guns and small automatic cannons. Iran has repeatedly shown footage of a vast number of these boats in caves.

To counter these gunboats, they recently also fired at Indian flagged ships Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav. Earlier this month, America's central command stated that it has destroyed six Iranian boats that had threatened commercial shipping in the troubled Strait. It has been very difficult to target these boats due to their small size. The Americans have deployed helicopters such as the Apache, MH-MH-60 Seahawks and AH-1Z Viper to tackle these boats. A-10 ground attack aircraft and drones are also being used to tackle this menace.

Iran's proxy, the Houthis, were the first to use these remote controlled vessels to target commercial vessels as they sailed through the Bab Al Mandeb, the narrow strip of water that separates the Arabian peninsula from Africa. The Houthis are said to have first used these uncrewed boats against a Saudi Al Madinah-class frigate. The Saudis claimed that the warship was hit by three boats.

In the Black Sea too, the Ukrainians have used these small boats to ensure that the Russian fleet is confined to the ports. Despite not having a navy, the Ukrainians have exerted considerable control over the Black Sea against a prominent Russian naval presence in the region. The Russians have been forced to divert a lot of resources to safeguard their naval assets in the region.

The biggest advantage of these small vessels is their small size. As these boats are designed without a crew compartment, they sit very low and as the surface of water keeps moving they blend in with the waves both visually and on radar. Their small size coupled their high speed also makes them a difficult target to hit in a moving sea.

The threat of these boats has kept commercial shipping at bay for three months and for good reason. These boats can carry hundreds of kgs of explosives and due to their nature, they will hit a ship exactly at the waterline, which will result in instant flooding, leading to catastrophic damage.