Sea Baby

The Sea Baby is an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developed for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). SBU Brigadier General Ivan V. Lukashevych proposed the project, and initial designs were completed in July 2022 through collaboration between the Ukrainian Navy, the SBU, and private companies. The SBU subsequently chose to develop the platform independently to produce a vehicle optimized for targeting static infrastructure and vessels docked in port, distinguishing it from the GUR-operated MAGURA V5.

The platform is configured to perform self-destruct attacks, lay naval mines, or carry specialized payloads. While early models relied on single communication links, iterations developed from late 2023 incorporated multiple redundant communication systems to maintain control. The design transitioned from a single-use strike craft into a modular platform capable of carrying laser guidance systems, guided missile launchers, thermobaric launchers based on the RPV-16 design, and mounted machine guns. Air defense variants have been equipped with adapted R-73 infrared missiles. A fully submersible variant, designated Sub Sea Baby, was also developed to conduct submerged attacks.

The Sea Baby entered service with the 385th USV Brigade in August 2023. On 17 July 2023, the USVs struck the Crimean Bridge, damaging its abutment and span. Subsequent deployments in 2023 resulted in strikes on the landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak, the tanker SIG, the corvette Samum in September, the patrol ship Pavel Derzhavin in October, and the hydrographic vessel Vladimir Kozitsky in December.

In mid-2024, Sea Baby USVs laid naval mines near Crimea, damaging Russian naval vessels navigating the approaches to Sevastopol Bay. During a deployment on 6 May 2024, a Sea Baby armed with an R-73 missile engaged a Russian Ka-29 helicopter before being destroyed. In December 2024, machine-gun-armed variants engaged Russian patrol boats and Mi-8 helicopters off the Crimean coast. On 28 November 2025, the USVs targeted the Russian shadow fleet oil tankers MT Kairos and MT Virat in the Black Sea off the Turkish coast. In December 2025, the SBU deployed the Sub Sea Baby variant in an attack on a Kilo-class submarine, identified as the B-271 Kolpino, at the Port of Novorossiysk.