The Danish company Blue Shadow has proposed a hybrid model for protecting the Odessa coast to the Defense Forces. Under it, the combat unit of an autonomous swarm of 12 naval drones will be controlled by six military personnel, while rapid refueling and recharging of boats on shore will be provided by civilian contractors, similar to the pit stop principle in Formula 1.
The Danish company Blue Shadow has proposed a hybrid model for protecting the Odessa coast to the Defense Forces. Under it, the combat unit of an autonomous swarm of 12 naval drones will be controlled by six military personnel, while rapid refueling and recharging of boats on shore will be provided by civilian contractors, similar to the pit stop principle in Formula 1.
The details of the BlueDragon project, which is being prepared for launch in the spring of 2027, are reported by Forbes Ukraine, citing the words of the company's founder and CEO, former US Navy topographic officer Charles Maher.
Instead of building its own unmanned boats, the Danish developers are focusing exclusively on software for autonomy and swarm control systems. The company is currently in talks with investors from Ukrainian maritime drone developer Magura to integrate its software on top of existing platforms and scale their application.
“We’re not trying to compete with Magura or any other boat manufacturers. Our approach is collaborative. We’ll team up with the boat builders, with the sensor manufacturers, the interceptors, and everything else. And we’ll do our part — that’s autonomy and command and control,” Charles Maher explained.
The technological basis of the system is the BlueShadowCore mission control platform and the BlueShadowEdge secure onboard computer. The concept, which has already been supported by the Naval Unmanned Systems Command and the Innovation Group of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, allows a single operator to control a group of drones instead of individual boats. This should push the air defense line from the shore deeper into the sea.
To combat air targets, the boats are planned to be equipped with various types of weapons: from small commercial BAE Systems missiles and Ukrainian homing missiles (which should be ready in early 2027) to jet interceptors, quadcopters, electronic warfare equipment, and machine guns for self-defense.
The idea to adapt European maritime technologies for the Ukrainian theater of operations arose in Blue Shadow's management in January during a visit to Ukraine and meetings with units of the Navy, National Guard, and special forces. Prior to that, the company specialized in protecting critical infrastructure in the North and Baltic Seas using the BlueSentry hybrid attack prediction system.
