StormRider Naval Drone Completes Sea Trials and Fields Warmate TL for Baltic defense.

WB Group says its StormRider unmanned surface vessel finished the first phase of sea trials in early October after a public reveal at MSPO 2025 in Kielce. The platform aims at reconnaissance, infrastructure protection, and long-range strike in the Baltic, signaling a rapid push by Poland into networked maritime drones.

Poland’s WB Group confirmed that StormRider, an optionally manned unmanned surface vessel developed with in-house firms Radmor and Arex, has wrapped its initial at-sea tests, including remote control via a satellite link. The prototype was previewed to visitors at MSPO 2025 in early September, where the company outlined a mission set spanning surveillance, port and coastal security, and precision strike. Company materials and independent show reporting describe a pragmatic, producible design with a sensor suite and modular armament sized for Baltic operations.
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StormRider is an optionally manned platform designed for port approaches, anchorages, and coastal waterways (Picture source: WB Group)

Developed within WB Group with Radmor and Arex, StormRider is an optionally manned platform designed for port approaches, anchorages, and coastal waterways. The design choice favors a robust, producible craft rather than an experimental demonstrator. The hull is about 8.5 meters long and 3 meters wide, with a displacement exceeding three tons. A combustion engine coupled to a waterjet supports shallow-draft maneuvering, quick acceleration, and safer operations near divers, mooring lines, or floating debris.

The sensor suite remains pragmatic and complete. A navigation radar, depth sounder, and sonar map the surface and subsurface environment. A stabilized electro-optical turret with day and infrared channels, combined with a laser rangefinder, provides identification and fire support. Native integration with WB Group’s TOPAZ command system, along with interoperability with other in-house effectors, enables networked sensor-to-shooter links and operations via airborne relays when line of sight is degraded.

Armament is modular. The navalized ZMU-05N remote weapon station mounts a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun with its own electro-optical sensors for detection and tracking. For extended reach, sealed tubes carry WARMATE TL loitering munitions in reconnaissance and strike variants. WB Group has also shown X-FRONTER options in vertical- and horizontal-launch configurations. This combination allows graduated effects from presence and area control to precision engagements against small targets beyond visual range.

The first test campaign focused on platform fundamentals. Propulsion, gyroscopic stabilization, and electrical power generation were evaluated in rough Baltic conditions, with extensive remote-control sequences and link validation. The company indicates that testing will continue in higher sea states while remaining compliant with maritime regulations and local safety rules, which explains the option to operate the craft with a person on board where required.

From a tactical and operational perspective, StormRider’s value lies in persistent sensing, reduced exposure of personnel, and networking. A unit can maintain surveillance over a sensitive area, feed correlated tracks to a coastal command center, and intercept a fast craft without placing a crew at risk. The weapon station addresses close-in self-protection and area control, while WARMATE provides engagement options against light threats outside harbor channels. The dimensions allow launch from current patrol vessels and, in the future, from Miecznik-class frigates. In a distributed flotilla concept, multiple USVs can form a surveillance screen with controlled costs.

On strictly technical grounds, three data points directly influence employment. First, the stated range of about 500 kilometers supports extended patrols of cable routes, pipelines, and terminals. Second, the electrical architecture is sized for sensor loads and the remote weapon station, supporting mission endurance. Third, standardized interfaces facilitate integration of alternative payloads such as electronic warfare, CBRN sampling, or environmental monitoring for coast guard, navy, or special operations scenarios.

Experience from the Black Sea has reframed the military utility of uncrewed, relatively low-cost units that generate uncertainty and stress adversary surveillance. In the Baltic, a confined and heavily networked maritime space with dense commercial traffic, a national solution such as StormRider reduces external dependence, supports Poland’s defense industrial base, and contributes to NATO’s collective posture. If demonstrations translate into orders, Warsaw would gain a sovereignty tool suited to protecting infrastructure, complicating sub-threshold hostile activity, and strengthening allied interoperability on the northeastern flank.