Iran is deploying explosives-laden drone boats disguised as wooden fishing vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a defense expert has warned – a move that marks a new phase of hybrid maritime warfare in one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.
Cameron Chell, CEO of drone technology company Dragonflyspoke after the Maritime trading operations in the United Kingdom (UKMTO) confirmed that a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker was struck by an Iranian unmanned surface vehicle north of Muscat, Oman on March 1.
“UKMTO has received confirmation that the vessel has been attacked by an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and the crew has been evacuated to shore,” UKMTO said in a threat assessment.
Reports indicated as much two additional oil tankers were hit by remote-controlled explosive boats in the Gulf on March 11, as Iran intensified attacks on foreign ships following the launch of US Operation Epic Fury against the regime on February 28.
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Shipping in the Persian Gulf drops as Trump deploys military forces against Iran. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The use of so-called “suicide skiffs” represents a growing asymmetric threat in the narrow, 33-kilometer-wide Strait, Chell warned, highlighting the technological capabilities behind these attacks.
“These can be jammed and tracked, but if there are fifty of these boats it is difficult to find them all along this coastline or to find a six-metre wooden fishing boat loaded with explosives.
“They can have one person control a swarm of 10 boats,” he said, before describing how there “could also be autonomous swarming, where they might have 10 boats that can act with a high degree of independence because they are pre-programmed.”
“The boats would be used to ram and explode targets,” Chell clarified.
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Naval units from Iran and Russia simulate the rescue of a hijacked ship during joint exercises at the port of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan, Iran, on February 19, 2026. (Iranian Army/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Chell’s comments followed on March 12 Reuters report stating that six ships had been attacked in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
Sources said Iran had also deployed about a dozen mines, complicating efforts to maintain traffic through the critical waterway.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News on Thursday that the US Navy, possibly together with an international coalition, would escort ships when militarily feasible.
British Defense Secretary John Healey also said discussions were underway with European counterparts, highlighting the global economic interests associated with the strait. However, Chell questioned the current defensive preparedness.
“The drone defense fleets that the US Navy would not have put in place to take out these suicide skiffs,” Chell said.
“The US would use manned aircraft to take them out, which are great at taking out a large target, but inefficient at taking out 50 boats, averaging 25 to 30 feet in size, loaded with explosives in one go.
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A screenshot of a maritime traffic terminal with ships in the Strait of Hormuz on March 4, 2026. (Kpler/Maritime traffic)
“Given the geographic location of the Strait, it would require heavy aircraft patrolling and ubiquitous surveillance of the area, a rapid response to any activity taking place,” he said.
While Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait closed as leverage against the US and Israel, oil prices continue to rise, with Chell also highlighting the geographical advantage Iran has.
“The geographic layout of the Strait lends itself very well to relatively simple suicide skiffs, unmanned surface vehicles, or USVs,” he warned, before describing how the area “lends itself to this low-cost, automatic, asymmetric warfare.”
“The Iranians can disguise them as fishing boats and they can be between 40 and 30 feet long, and a boat can be of any kind,” Chell said.
“These skiffs are equipped with basic remote control capabilities, which may or may not utilize GPS waypoints or manual remote control.”
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“The skiffs are not autonomous, because the distance across the Strait is so short and it is very flat over this waterway, the communications signal could be carried via line of sight for quite some time,” he added.
“They can literally have hundreds of them at a time because they’re also so cheap to defend against,” Chell said.
