Copyright businessukraine
Ukraine has showcased the next generation of the country’s innovative Sea Baby naval drones. The upgraded platforms can carry significantly heavier loads and feature artificial intelligence capabilities. Crucially, officials claim the operational range of the drones has been expanded from 1000 kilometers to 1500 kilometers, meaning they can now strike anywhere in the Black Sea. The latest Sea Baby drones come in a range of formats including a model mounted with a multiple rocket launcher and one featuring a stabilized machine gun turret. Sea Baby drones are now also able to serve as platforms for smaller strike drones, making them the drone equivalent of aircraft carriers. The unmanned vessels feature AI-assisted targeting systems and come with self-destruct systems to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has pioneered the use of naval drone technologies in a bid to counter Russia’s overwhelming advantage in conventional naval strength. This drone-focused naval strategy has proved highly effective and has helped Ukraine turn the tide in the Battle of the Black Sea. Despite not possessing a traditional navy of its own, Kyiv has managed to break the Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and resume commercial shipping. Ukrainian sea drone attacks have also sunk multiple Russian warships and forced Putin to withdraw the bulk of his fleet from occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk on Russia’s Black Sea coast. With Ukraine’s new Sea Baby drones now able to travel further, even this retreat may no longer be enough to keep Russian warships safe.
