Foto:SBU
After the first applications of naval drones, which caused quite a stir, the Russian military strengthened the protection of its ships.
They built additional barriers at the entrance to the port of Sevastopol, which practically made it impossible to strike from drones. However, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) found an impressive alternative – laying sea mines.
Thanks to the Sea Baby naval drones, which laid more than 15 underwater mines near the occupied Crimea, the SBU managed to hit at least four Russian ships. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal
These mines, placed on routes used exclusively by Russian warships, are made of plastic and weigh about 400 pounds, making them difficult to detect. For a month and a half, the SBU team monitored the routes of naval ships and civilian transport, after which Sea Baby began to lay mines.
One of the first big successes was the blowing up of the Samum missile corvette on one of the mines, after which the ship is still undergoing repairs. During the Sea Baby flights, they covered more than 3,000 miles, laying down about 15 more minutes. During one of the flights, the drone opened fire with a grenade launcher, hitting an enemy ship, when it was detected by three Raptor-class patrol boats.
A month later, the large patrol boat “Pavel Derzhavin” encountered a mine while entering the Sevastopol bay, after which it was sent for repairs. But while leaving the bay, the boat again encountered a mine, which required additional towing.
A few days later, an explosion damaged the modern mine countermeasures ship “Vladimir Kozitskyi”, one of two such ships in service in Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, remote demining carried out by SBU Sea Baby drones is the first example of successful remote demining in the world.
“Previously, maritime drones were mostly used for surveillance or logistics. We are doing many things that no one in the world has done before us,” Brigadier General of the SBU Ivan Lukashevich with the call sign “Hunter” told reporters.
This innovative use of maritime drones demonstrates that even in the face of severe restrictions and blockades, effective methods of resistance can be found. The technologies and ingenuity of the Ukrainian military once again prove their effectiveness in the war against the aggressor. In
