The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has revealed the latest update to its highly-effective Sea Baby naval drones which are now capable of launching salvos of Grad rockets, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on May 22.
Naval drones used by the SBU have hit several Russian warships but until now have been used as kamikaze drones that explode on impact or in the near vicinity of a target.
According to the SBU source, the new weapons system has already been in action "against Russian positions on the Kinburn spit," a thin stretch of coastal land near Mykolaiv.
"This technological solution is already showing powerful results," the source said without providing further details of the attack.
"So new surprises await the enemy," they added.
A video posted to YouTube purportedly shows the attack. The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify the video.
Pictures released by the SBU show the drone in testing launching Grad rockets on land.
"Our Sea Baby is not just a drone, but a multifunctional platform that is constantly being improved," the source added.
The last update came just a few weeks ago when SBU spokesperson Artem Dekhtiarenko said the Sea Baby had been modernized and could now carry almost a ton of explosives to hit a target over 1,000 kilometers away.
“This means that the SBU can reach a target almost anywhere in the Black Sea,” he said.
In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on occupied Crimea, targeting Russian military assets in and around the Black Sea with domestically-produced sea drones and long-range missiles. Russia has illegally occupied the peninsula since 2014.
As of early February 2024, 33% of the Russian Black Sea fleet’s warships had been disabled by Ukraine, the Strategic Communications Center of Ukraine’s Armed Forces recently reported.
Dekhtiarenko said that in 2022, when the SBU first started to use homegrown sea drones, there had been no alternative to these drones worldwide.
The existing Western drones were large but not maneuverable, they could easily be detected by “enemy radar stations,” and they also did not have a warhead, the spokesperson added.
“Today, a drone worth Hr 8.5 million (around $216,000) destroys an enemy warship worth tens of millions of dollars.”
Dinara Khalilova
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