Overview
- The SBU presented the new variants at a controlled demonstration for journalists, showing a test run and craft fitted with a multiple-rocket launcher and a stabilized machine-gun turret operated from a mobile control center.
- SBU officials say the latest models add friend-or-foe AI targeting, the ability to launch small aerial attack drones, multilayered self-destruct systems to prevent capture, and designs aimed at reuse rather than single-use strikes.
- Ukrainian authorities attribute successful strikes on 11 Russian vessels and repeated attacks on the Crimean Bridge to sea drones, which they say contributed to Russia shifting major naval assets from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk.
- The program is coordinated with Ukraine’s military and political leadership and draws public donations via UNITED24, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy recently floated selling part of a 4,000-unit production run to partners.
- Officials acknowledge a fast-evolving contest with Russian defenses, citing widespread electronic jamming, expanded anti-capture measures, plans for Sea Baby–based counter-drone “destroyers,” and a call to bolster port protection.