War drones are proliferating around the Caspian Sea, a body of water that was once untouched by armed conflict.

On September 6, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov unveiled two new unmanned naval platforms: the 49-foot Turkish-made SALVO armed uncrewed surface vessel and the KAYRA maritime kamikaze drone. Both are being manufactured in Azerbaijan at a joint facility run with Türkiye’s DEARSAN Shipyard.

The sea’s immunity from warfare is gone. Ukraine struck Russia’s Kaspiysk naval base on September 11 and again on September 19, and hit the Makhachkala commercial port on September 10. Makhachkala is Russia’s only ice-free deep-water Caspian port and sits on the corridor used to move weapons between Russia and Iran.

Kyiv has not confirmed the weapons used. Russia first showed the missile-fitted SALVO in August 2025.

Analysts say lessons from Ukraine’s Black Sea campaign are reshaping Caspian naval doctrine, with offensive and defensive maritime drones becoming a core capability.