Ukraine’s first underwater drone strike caught on hacked cameras

MONTREAL — The Security Service of Ukraine has claimed the first strike of a Russian submarine using an underwater strike drone in footage seemingly sourced from compromised enemy security cameras.

On Dec. 15, the SBU published a video on its official government affiliated website reportedly showing the Sub Sea Baby drone striking a part of the Kilo-class submarine stationed at the Novorossiysk Russian naval base.

The available recording shows a major explosion around the stern area of the Russian submarine, which likely resulted in notable damage to components of the platform. However, the specifics have not been independently confirmed.

“For the first time in history, underwater drones ‘Sub Sea Baby’ blew up the Russian submarine of the class 636.3 (NATO classified as Kilo) – as a result of the explosion, it suffered critical damage and was put out of action,” the SBU wrote in a statement .

The submarine was forced to stay put in the Novorossiysk port due to the effective use of Sea Baby surface naval drones, which displaced Russian ships from Sevastopol Bay, it added.

The Russian Ministry of Defense maintains that the attack was unsuccessful and that all vessels at the naval base are intact.

The footage appears to have been taken from cameras around the port, suggesting that the Ukrainian military likely managed to infiltrate the network to surveil Russian activity inside the naval base.

Very little information is known about the capabilities and functioning of the Sub Sea Baby underwater drone; other than that it was specifically designed for the SBU. The language included in the SBU announcement frames the attack as having included multiple units of these drones.

According to an industry source in Ukraine, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, next to no one was aware of the operation ahead of time since the naval drone is part of non-public projects with extremely restricted access. For instance, the source noted that the manufacturer of the Sea Baby has not even gone public yet with its identity.

As noted by Naval News, the drone appears to operate as a type of autonomous torpedo, which, if true, could enable it to be guided in the direction and proximity of the target using waypoints prior to its own systems taking over and steering it independently.

“This could explain how the Sub Sea Baby was able to navigate inside the naval base and towards the submarine pen, a route that requires several turns in confined spaces,” the online platform stated in a report.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

蒙特利尔——乌克兰安全局声称，他们首次使用水下攻击无人机袭击了一艘俄罗斯潜艇，相关视频似乎来自被入侵的敌方安全摄像头。

12 月 15 日，俄罗斯国家安全局在其官方政府附属网站上发布了一段视频，据称视频显示“海底宝贝”无人机击中了停泊在俄罗斯新罗西斯克海军基地的基洛级潜艇的一部分。

现有录像显示，俄罗斯潜艇尾部附近发生剧烈爆炸，可能导致潜艇部件严重受损。但具体细节尚未得到独立证实。

俄罗斯国家安全局在一份声明中写道：“历史上第一次，水下无人机‘海底宝贝’炸毁了俄罗斯636.3级潜艇（北约代号为‘基洛’级）——爆炸导致该潜艇遭受严重损坏，无法继续作战。”

声明还补充说，由于“海宝贝”水面无人艇的有效使用，俄罗斯舰艇被迫停泊在新罗西斯克港，因为“海宝贝”水面无人艇将俄罗斯舰艇从塞瓦斯托波尔湾驱逐出去。

俄罗斯国防部坚称袭击未遂，海军基地的所有舰艇均完好无损。

这段视频似乎是从港口周围的摄像头拍摄的，这表明乌克兰军方可能已经渗透到该网络中，以监视俄罗斯在海军基地内的活动。

关于“海底宝贝”（Sub Sea Baby）水下无人机的性能和运作方式，目前所知甚少；只知道它是专门为苏联国家安全局（SBU）设计的。苏联国家安全局的声明中称，此次袭击使用了多架这种无人机。

一位出于安全考虑不愿透露姓名的乌克兰业内人士表示，由于这款海军无人机属于高度保密的非公开项目，几乎没有人事先知道这项行动。例如，该人士指出，“海宝贝”（Sea Baby）无人机的制造商甚至尚未公开其身份。

据海军新闻报道，该无人机似乎以自主鱼雷的形式运行，如果属实，它可以先通过航点引导至目标方向和附近，然后再由其自身系统接管并独立操控。

该在线平台在一份报告中指出：“这可以解释‘海底宝贝’是如何在海军基地内航行并到达潜艇基地的，这条路线需要在狭窄的空间内多次转弯。”

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。