FIRE AND FURY
First sight of Ukraine’s new flame-throwing invisible ‘SeaBaby’ drone as it spits FIRE at Putin’s Navy ship in Black Sea
The new drone was also responsible for the damage on Crimean bridge
FOOTAGE shows the first-ever battle between Ukraine's new invisible sea kamikaze drone and Russian warships.
The Kyiv-made Sea Baby drone uses a flamethrower system to spit fire at Vladimir Putin’s navy in Black Sea.
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The exchange was reportedly off Sevastopol when Russian vessels intercepted the Ukrainian unmanned speedboats.
Footage was released by the SBU, the Ukrainian security service.
For the first time, the drone returned fire, according to the Ukrainian Telegram channel Crimean Wind.
“President [Volodymyr] Zelensky set the task to make sure that Ukraine dominates the Black Sea,” said SBU chief Vasyl Mailiuk.
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“For the SBU, this is one of the priorities.”
The development of marine drones was delayed by disagreements with Elon Musk, who did not allow the use of his Starlink satellite technology in Crimea.
New communications solutions were developed and the body of the Sea Baby is made of material invisible to radars, said Ukrainskaya Pravda.
It was the new SeaBaby drone that hit and damaged the Crimean Bridge on July 17, 2023.
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The drone developments were spearheaded by a team assembled by naval commander Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa.
“Successful drone attacks have proven that this is one of the effective ways to counter the enemy at sea,” said Maliuk.
“We have begun to scale up the use of surface drones.
“Today the SBU is working with SeaBaby drones.
“These are new and more advanced generations of sea drones.
“No private companies have access to this project, the team is staffed by a team of professional SBU employees, engineers, IT specialists and military sailors.”
He said: “SeaBaby is no longer just a naval drone, but a multi-purpose platform that the SBU is actively using today for various tasks, including attacks on the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”
The SeaBaby carries up to 850kg of explosives.
The Mamai drones are packed with 450kg.
Not all sea drones are “kamikazes” - now most return after missions back to their bases.
They can also be used for planting mines.
The new drone capability is seen as forcing Russia to move key elements of its Black Sea Fleet - including flagship Admiral Makarov - from Sevastopol further east to Novorossiysk.
Russian Telegram channel Military Informant said the firing by the drone was unlikely to have caused damage to Putin's navy in this case yet for the future it posed a challenge.
"It can be noted that the fire is not aimed and is unlikely to be effective...
"However, such drones with MLRS can be used for covert firing of targets on the shore or in the bay, which will be a problem."
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It was previously reported that the "Sea Baby" drone brutally damaged one of Putin's missile hovercrafts called Samum.
The Black Sea Vessel had to be towed into Sevastopol harbour after the strike which inflicted "significant damage".
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