Sea Baby is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

multi-purpose

unmanned surface vehicle Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), also known as unmanned surface vessels, autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) in some cases, uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), or colloquially drone ships, or robot boats, are boats or ships that operate on the ...

(USV) developed for use by the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...

(SBU) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is able to carry an explosive payload for use in

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

attacks, or equipped with other equipment loadouts for more specialised use.

Development

SBU brigadier general Lukashevych Ivan Volodymyrovych proposed the idea of the agency operating unmanned attack boats, and early USV models were designed in July 2022 in collaboration with specialists from the Ukrainian Navy and assorted private companies. Later, the SBU decided to develop drones independently, culminating in the Sea Baby design for operational use by the SBU, while what eventually became the MAGURA V5 became operated by the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR). While the GUR's smaller and more manoeuvrable MAGURA V5 is used designed primarily for striking warships operating at sea, the SBU designed the Sea Baby for a heavier payload, primarily to strike such static targets as ships docked in port. Models of the Sea Baby from late 2023 featured several redundant communications systems and carried explosive warheads up to 850 kg, compared to the 108 kg payloads from the earlier models. The multiple redundant communications systems were intended to avoid repeating the incident wherein Starlink-dependent USVs of the SBU were left stranded during a mission to strike the Russian frigate ''Admiral Makarov'' docked at

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

, after connectivity to Starlink in Crimea was declined by

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

. By the end of 2023, Sea Baby had transformed from a kamikaze attack vehicle to a multi-purpose platform capable of carrying different loadouts for various tasks, with examples including guided missile launchers and laser guidance systems, and in January 2024, the SBU revealed a variant of the Sea Baby equipped with six thermobaric launchers based on the RPV-16 design.

Operational history

On July 17, 2023, two Sea Baby USVs

struck Struck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Struck (1877–1911), German author *Hermann Struck (1876–1944), German artist *Karin Struck (1947–2006), German author *Paul Struck (1776-1820), German composer *Peter Struc ...

the Crimean Bridge, resulting in damage to the

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

and

bridge span Span is the distance between two intermediate supports for a structure, e.g. a beam or a bridge. A span can be closed by a solid beam or by a rope. The first kind is used for bridges, the second one for power lines, overhead telecommunication lines ...

. On September 14, 2023, the SBU claimed that it struck Russian corvette ''Samum'' with a Sea Baby USV, with a video later surfacing that shows the ship being towed with a noticeable list. In October 2023, the Russian patrol ship ''Pavel Derzhavin'' was damaged by a Sea Baby attack. Later in December 2023, the reconnaissance and hydrographic ship ''Vladimir Kozitsky'' was also struck by a Sea Baby USV. On 6 May 2024, Russia released footage of a Ka-29 using gunfire on a Sea Baby drone. The drone was armed with a R-73 infrared missile, to defend it from helicopters. One missile appeared to have been fired before it was destroyed by gun fire.

Notes

References

{{reflist Autonomous ships Ships of the Ukrainian Navy Ukrainian inventions

Development

Operational history

See also

Notes

References