$1-Million Missile, AI-Assisted Sea Drone: A Look At Ukraine's New-Age Weapons

With Russia continuing its attacks on Ukraine as the Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin summit hangs in the balance, Kyiv put its Storm Shadow missiles to use for a counterattack. It also unveiled upgraded 'Sea Baby' drones, which can carry heavier weapons and target using artificial intelligence.

The developments come as Russia launched waves of missiles and drones throughout the night, targeting at least eight Ukrainian cities, as well as a village in the Kyiv region. It also struck a kindergarten in Ukraine while children were in the building.

The Ukrainian army struck a chemical plant in Russia's Bryansk region using British-made air-launched Storm Shadow missiles.

What Are Storm Shadow Missiles?

Europe's complex weapon systems developer MBDA made the cruise missiles, which have a range of around 250 kilometres with a conventional warhead of 990 pounds.

Considered ideal for penetrating hardened bunkers and stores, the missiles have been used for precision strikes on protected targets in occupied territory, including Russia's Black Sea naval headquarters.

Once the missile is launched from an aircraft, it remains under the radar using GPS and terrain-mapping technology before dropping down. A camera in its nose then identifies the target and detonates the warhead.

Each missile, nicknamed Scalp, costs around $1 million and is usually launched as part of strikes planned to be started with a flurry of cheaper drones. Once the enemy's air defences are exhausted, the Storm Shadow is deployed with an aim at the target, the BBC reported.

A Storm Shadow missile
Photo Credit: MBDA

What Are Sea Baby Drones?

The Security Service of Ukraine, known by its Ukrainian acronym SBU, unveiled the upgraded 'Sea Baby' sea drone it says can now operate anywhere in the Black Sea. It has an upgraded range of 1,500 kilometres and can carry payloads of up to 2,000 kilograms.

Its variants include one fitted with a multiple-rocket launcher and another with a stabilised machine-gun turret. They feature artificial intelligence-assisted friend-or-foe targeting systems and can launch small aerial attack drones, The Associated Press reported.

The craft are operated remotely from a mobile control center inside a van, where operators use a bank of screens and controls. To combat the risk of capture by the enemy, they have multi-layered self-destruct systems. The aim of the 'Sea Baby' drones, though, is to remain reusable and multi-purpose.

The Sea Baby programme is partially funded by public donations through a state-run initiative and is coordinated with Ukraine's military and political leadership.

Ukraine's security service said that various iterations of its sea drones had struck 11 Russian ships since the full-scale war began in early 2022. "Sea baby" drones also enabled previous Ukrainian attacks on a strategic bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland.