BlueShadow founder and CEO Charles Maher in an exclusive interview with RBC-Ukraine
Main image by Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times
The Danish company BlueShadow has developed the Blue Dragon system — a swarm of autonomous unmanned boats designed to destroy Shahed drones at distances of up to 20 kilometers from the shore. This is intended to protect Odessa and its port infrastructure from regular strikes by Shahed drones coming from the sea, where air defense capabilities are more limited.
At the final event of the Defence Builder accelerator, BlueShadow founder and CEO Charles Maher shared in an exclusive interview with RBC-Ukraine how the system works and when the first combat vessels could appear near the Ukrainian coast.
— Tell us about your technology, your startup, and its mission.
— By education I am a submarine officer of the U.S. Navy, with deep experience at sea and a passion for maritime security.
Our technology is designed to protect people in Ukraine’s coastal regions — first and foremost Odessa, which regularly suffers from Shahed drone strikes coming from the sea, where air defense capabilities are limited.
We protect cities, infrastructure, and, importantly, trade. By protecting these key aspects of Ukraine’s coastal zone, we enable freedom from Russian pressure and help the country recover even after hostilities in a hybrid warfare environment.
The technology itself consists of two parts. The first is the C4ISR technological platform, which connects swarms of unmanned surface vessels operating at sea with higher-level command-and-control systems such as Delta, Kropyva, and SkyMap. We receive information from these systems and at the same time transmit data collected by our sensors.
The second part is the Blue Shadow Edge technology, an autonomy module installed on each unmanned surface vessel. This allows the vessels to act as a squadron united by a shared operational picture and to make autonomous decisions to optimize engagements. If the system detects Shaheds approaching from a certain direction, it can redirect individual vessels or the entire swarm there.
The system is optimized specifically for interception. Each vessel that makes contact with a target determines the probability of its destruction, and the swarm decides which vessels will take part in the engagement. This is followed by detection, tracking, target classification, and assessment of inflicted damage — to determine whether re-engagement is needed.
— Has this technology undergone successful testing?
— At the moment, we are at the development stage. The main platform is already working, and we are using it for internal beta testing — it has already been demonstrated and is functioning.
At the same time, there is an artificial intelligence aspect: we are currently training models to improve their effectiveness and ensure stable reliability.
For the Blue Shadow Edge module, we are using an existing hardware platform and integrating partner software into it. We are combining all these components and building the upper layer — autonomous mission control.
This process is still ongoing. We have not yet deployed Blue Shadow Edge in full operation, but we expect to do so within the next month or two.
On effectiveness and uniqueness of the system
— How many drones can this system destroy?
— Theoretically — an unlimited number. Each vessel will carry several interceptors, and the vessels themselves are modular: they can be equipped with blocks of quadcopter drones, missiles, machine guns, and in the future even electronic warfare systems or other energy-based interceptors.
The real limitation, in my opinion, is the number of vessels and interceptors on them. As for the number of targets the software can process, it is practically unlimited thanks to distributed sensing and powerful computing at the Blue Shadow Edge level.
— What is the advantage of the technology?
— It is a step forward in technological development. If you look at it as an evolution — from individual drone operators to operators with access to information capable of coordinating actions and hitting individual targets — the next step we are taking is the use of distributed sensors and distributed strike platforms under the control of a small number of people to provide security over a large area.
This provides scalability: the ability to protect large spaces with a much smaller number of personnel, far more efficiently, since all engagements are comprehensively managed across the entire battlefield using swarm technology.
— Can Russians damage this system with Shaheds or missiles?
— We fully understand that once we demonstrate effectiveness, we become a target. But we are already taking this into account in the system design. Our approach is target prioritization: if our platforms are attacked, we first intercept the drones that threaten us in order to ensure mission survival.
But even if we are hit — and in combat this is possible — the swarm has a self-healing property. If we lose one vessel, the remaining vessels continue the mission autonomously, which ensures resilience over time on the battlefield.
— How many people are needed to maintain the platform?
— We plan to deploy the system in squadrons of 12 vessels. About 10 vessels will be at sea at the same time, two will be under maintenance, and those at sea will operate continuously, 24/7, 365 days a year.
A coastal team will manage such a squadron. We believe five people can handle it. Replenishment will be rotational: one vessel is taken out of the sea, refueled, resupplied with interceptors, and returned — and so on in turn. This ensures continuous defense with minimal personnel requirements.
— How much will a basic version of the platform cost?
— We are still determining this, as early-stage research and development requires certain efforts. But we believe the first squadron will cost around 10–12 million euros per squadron, including the shore-based command-and-control center and integration into the national platform. In other words, this is a complete package, including spare parts for technical support.
