Dhaka, April 3 -- Inside a hangar on an industrial estate near a motorway and a port, sleek glass fibre hulls shaped like oversized canoes spray-painted naval grey await the fitting of nearby packaged engines and other high-tech systems.

From Ukraine, similar unmanned attack boats - most initially built by Ukraine special forces and security services specifically for that task - have largely driven the Russian Black Sea Fleet out of nearby waters.

If war widens in the Middle East from the current face-off between Israel and the US on one hand and Iran on the other, some of these newer British boats might go into action.

Such craft are increasingly seen as the future of naval warfare, alongside a host of other "dirty, dull and dangerous...