Ukraine Deploys Upgraded 'Sea Baby' Drones Equipped With Rocket Launchers

Ukraine has begun to deploy adapted naval drones fitted with multiple rocket launchers against Russian forces, in the latest push from Kyiv to keep ahead of Moscow in the fast-paced development of uncrewed vehicles for the war effort.

The SBU, Ukraine's state security service, is already using modified Sea Baby naval drones fitted with Soviet-era Grad multiple rocket launchers against Moscow's forces in the south of the war-torn country, an SBU source told Newsweek Wednesday.

"This technological solution is already showing powerful results," the source added.

Earlier this week, the SBU and Ukraine's navy used the new Sea Baby drones to target Russian positions around the Kinburn Spit, the SBU source said. The Kinburn Spit, currently controlled by Russia, sits at the mouth of the Dnieper River and can control vessels arriving at and departing from the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv. Videos circulating online appear to show the drones operating around the Kinburn Spit, but Newsweek could not independently verify the footage.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

The source declined to say whether the redesigned Sea Baby drones would be used in strikes on the annexed Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea.

Since Russia initiated a full-scale war in February 2022, Ukraine has spurred on drone innovations. The countries are competing to grasp new uncrewed technology and deploy it faster than their adversary. Kyiv and Moscow compete on land, on the water and in the air for drone supremacy, with the rest of the world paying close attention to the new developments coming out of the conflict.

Russia has struggled to fend off the threat posed by Ukraine's innovative naval drones. Uncrewed surface vehicles have zeroed in on Moscow's Black Sea Fleet and are credited with destroying and damaging a slew of Russian vessels.

In March, Moscow announced it would add "additional fire weapons, large-caliber machine-gun rifle systems" to its Black Sea Fleet to "destroy enemy drones." Western experts previously told Newsweek that as Ukraine upped its use of USVs, Russia was hard-pressed to detect and intercept the waterborne drones before they reached their targets.

Earlier this month, Russian state media reported that Moscow was "developing a thermal imaging system for the Black Sea Fleet to effectively repel enemy overnight naval drone attacks."

United24, a Ukrainian government-run fundraising platform, has said the hulls of the USVs are "made of a material that cannot be detected by radar."

The naval drones can travel up to 1,000 kilometers, about 620 miles, accelerating up to 90 kilometers per hour (56 mph), according to United24.

The platform has said Kyiv is collecting funds to pay for 35 Sea Baby naval drones, each of which can carry up to 850 kilograms of explosives. The SBU source told Newsweek that the Sea Baby drones fitted with Grad launchers were paid for using United24 donations.

Each Sea Baby is worth about $221,000, United24 said.

"Our Sea Baby is not just a drone, but a multifunctional platform that is constantly being improved," the source added. "The enemy is in for new surprises."

In early May, Russian and Ukrainian sources reported that Ukraine had started using Soviet-era R-73 anti-aircraft missiles, launched from naval drones.

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