Ukraine has transformed part of its fleet of naval drones into unmanned rocket launchers to attack coastal targets.
Images that emerged online appeared to show the SBU security service’s Sea Baby drone equipped with a Grad rocket launcher mounted to its hull.
“Our Sea Baby is not just a drone, but a multifunctional platform that is constantly being improved,” an SBU source told the Ukrainian news wire Interfax.
“And today we can confirm that they are equipped with a multiple rocket launcher system, and this technological solution is already showing powerful results.”
The agency confirmed the new systems had entered into service in a combat mission off the coast of the Kinburn Spit, a small strip of Russian-held land where the Dnipro River meets the Black Sea.
The sandy outcrop is considered strategically important because it gives whoever controls it control over the entrance to the Dnipro – the river that bisects Ukraine – as well as the ports of Kherson and Mykolaiv.
Drone footage shared on social media by Russian sources appeared to show the moment the Sea Baby drones started letting off at least six tube-launched rockets simultaneously.
It was the first time the new weapons had been seen in combat after official images were released of them being tested on land.
Brig Gen Ivan Lukashevych, of Ukraine’s SBU security service, had previously told The Telegraph that the agency was working to modify its bomb-laden attack drones into multi-purpose weapons.
The latest iteration of the Sea Baby is fitted with a 400-horsepower engine, has a range of more than 600 miles and a top speed of 55mph, with a reinforced hull so it can transverse waves almost two metres (6.6ft) tall.
The kamikaze version carries a 400kg warhead, while it is now confirmed a reusable model has been developed for launching missiles.
A Starlink terminal and another satellite communications beacon beam the feed from its powerful infrared camera back to the SBU bunker in Ukraine.
The drones are best known for their explosive attack on the Kerch Bridge, which connects occupied Crimea to mainland Russia.
It has also been responsible for strikes on the Admiral Makarov frigate, the Olenegorskiy Gornyak, a Ropucha-class landing ship, and a Sig oil tanker in the Black Sea.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s United24 foundation runs fundraisers to help pay for the unmanned naval systems.
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