Ukraine is arming its special operations with some stealthy new water vessels—kayaks equipped with grenade launchers.
The Poloz-M16 combat kayak, produced by Adamant Verf, is a two-person military kayak that has been put to use by engineers and special forces in Ukraine. With two seas on its southern border and nearly 112,000 miles of streams, it’s easy to see why Ukraine has deployed the humble kayak to bear arms.
Ukraine’s Poloz-M16 Combat Kayak With Grenade Launcher
“Poloz-M16 is similar to what the American and British soldiers have been using, but it’s ten times cheaper, around 2,500 dollars per item,” Serhiy Ostashenko, CEO of the Adamant Verf company, told ABC News. Anyone who has been shopping for a kayak lately can attest the Ukrainian government is getting a fair deal on boats here.
According to ABC, the Poloz-M16 can carry up to three people and about 550 pounds of cargo (i.e., artillery). It’s made of polyethylene, which, as paddlers, we know, can handle plenty of abuse in the field.
What we are all really curious about, though, is that grenade launcher strapped to the bow. It’s a Ukrainian-produced NATO-type UAG-40 grenade launcher. The grenade launcher can fire a projectile over a mile and is equipped with a unique mechanism to absorb recoil—so as not to rock the boat. Don’t get excited to have one of these for your duck-hunting setup though. We checked, and they aren’t available in the outfitting aisle at your local retailer.
Kayaks Proven Beneficial To War Efforts
The use of kayaks for stealth missions in the theater of modern war is, of course, nothing new. In World War II, the British used tandem sea kayaks to strap explosives to German vessels. To this day, U.S. units such as the Navy Seals and Marines employ Klepper and Long Haul folding kayaks for specific missions.
According to the ABC News report, the kayaks with grenade launchers are already proving beneficial to Ukraine. For example, Ukrainian soldiers used the Poloz-M16 in an operation on the Oskil River last October. According to a soldier present, they conducted night reconnaissance near Russian positions on the riverbank, transporting explosives and securing passage for an assault group that forced Russian forces to retreat.
Video: ABC News
