The personal watercraft-based uncrewed vessel can take on many missions, from cargo delivery to acting as a kamikaze against enemy ships. The company

Mako Is A Jet Ski Turned Into A Weaponized Drone

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2024-05-10 01:30:02

The personal watercraft-based uncrewed vessel can take on many missions, from cargo delivery to acting as a kamikaze against enemy ships.

The company that makes the mysterious Phoenix Ghost loitering munition has entered the budding market for small uncrewed surface vessels (USVs). Interest in making these types of USVs has accelerated due to the success of Ukrainian uncrewed surface vessel (USV) attacks on Russian warships and concerns over a future fight in the Pacific.

“Unmanned surface vessels are in the news,” AEVEX marketing director Matt Gunn told The War Zone Wednesday during the annual special operations conference in Tampa now known as SOF Week. “You've seen the videos online of them with a one-way ticket to a Russian destroyer and it’s sparking everyone’s interest. Our answer to that is the Mako and the Mako Lite.”

As he spoke, Gunn stood next to a working example (minus a few components) of the Mako Lite USV on the SOF Week showroom floor. It is the smaller of two waterjet-powered USVs built on a waverunner-like personal watercraft platform that the company offers. Additionally, AEVEX makes an inflatable Boat in a Box (BiB), powered by a Torqeedo electric motor that can be used to move cargo, Gunn said.