Ukrainian naval drones now cover twice the distance between Odessa and Sevastopol and deliver explosives weighing more than 800 kilograms.
In less than a year and a half of its existence, the Sea Baby marine drones have undergone several upgrades. They were trained to cover longer distances and made more lethal. Business Insider reported this on Friday, March 1, citing SBU General Ivan Lukashevich, whose team is working on the development of a UAV.
According to him, in 2024, maritime drones will have completely different characteristics.
“Compared to the ones we first tried in October 2022 to attack Russian warships in Sevastopol Bay. We realized the shortcomings of the first projects, but the manufacturer could not foresee those things, because at that time there is no expertise in the world for highly technical drones,” Lukashevich said.
The first change to drones was to increase the size of the warhead. According to preliminary data, drones can deliver explosives weighing more than 800 kilograms.
The next notable modernization was the “improved seaworthiness,” which made it possible to sail in waves one and a half meters high.
The third improvement was that the Sea Babies could travel twice the distance between Odessa and Sevastopol. Specifically, in a straight line across the Black Sea, the distance between the two cities is about 300 kilometers. And the range of drones is now more than 900 kilometers, making even more Russian targets reachable.
“Ukraine also wants to remake them so that they are cheaper and more effective,” Lukashevich said.
It was also noted that, in addition to the physical modernization of its Sea Baby drones, the SBU is also using several locations for their production and testing. Continuous redeployment, even special operations, is carried out at various command posts.
Let’s remember that at the beginning of January 2024 it was reported that the warhead of the Sea Baby was increased several times, and the hull began to be made of material invisible to radars.
Earlier it became known that the Ukrainian military uses three types of maritime drones for special operations in the Black Sea. Now it is not only Sea Baby, but also Kazak Mamai and Magura V5. The last type of drone uses power steering.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.