July 10, 2026: Ukraine recently revealed a new naval drone, as yet unnamed, so we call it the MND/Multipurpose Naval Drone This one appears to be nine or ten meters long and two meters wide. In the rear, there is a dispersal bay for naval mines or explosive charges that were recently used to damage or destroy Russian natural gas well platforms in the Black Sea. In the bow of the MND there are three impact fuze mechanisms mounted on the top side. These would apparently be armed and used to detonate an explosive charge in the bow. The MND, as well as the four aerial drones it carries, are operated by controllers on land, on a ship, or on an aircraft.

Ukraine has been developing submerged naval drones since 2023, when the Toloka2 TK-150 was introduced. This drone was 2.5 meters long and equipped with a sensor mast that remained above the surface for navigation and target identification. Toloka2 could carry a small explosive warhead. Subsequently, Ukraine developed the larger 6-meter-long Marichka drone, which is 1 meter in diameter. In 2024, Ukraine developed the Sea Baby. These were made of a material that is nearly invisible to radar. Each carries up to 850 kg of explosives. Fewer explosives could be carried if you want the Sea Baby to travel farther. With a smaller load of explosives, it could reach targets up to 1,000 kilometers distant. Top speed is 90 kilometers per hour, but for economical fuel use, the cruise speed is about half that. That means it would take the Sea Baby about twenty hours to travel a thousand kilometers. That is a one-way trip to a target, such as a naval base or any ships docked there, which is then attacked. Sea Baby navigates using several devices, including GPS, INS, and short-range sensors to detect and avoid obstacles. These sensors can also be programmed to identify and attack a specific target, such as a ship or another naval base facility. Sea Baby can also be equipped with short-range weapons, such as explosive rockets that can hit targets up to 1,000 meters away with thermobaric/fuel air warheads. When used to launch rocket attacks, the Sea Baby can escape and return to base for reuse. Some Sea Babys are equipped with video cameras to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance missions. In this case, communications equipment must be carried to transmit video or individual digital photos back to the Ukrainian base. The Ukrainians have been very imaginative and flexible in their use of these unmanned seagoing vessels.

Ukraine has three operational naval drones. These include Sea Baby, Mother, and MAGURA. At the end of 2023, Cossack Mamai was introduced, with a top speed of 100 kilometers an hour. Manufacturing of naval drones takes place in underground facilities to provide protection from Russian missile and guided bomb attacks.

MAGURA carries 320 kg of explosives while Mamai carries 450 kg. These drones are no longer used only to deliver explosives against a target; they can also be used for reconnaissance when equipped with video cameras that broadcast what they see back to the drone operator. Sea Baby has a range of over 700 kilometers, making it suitable for operations at sea. Endurance is about 60 hours, and top speed is over 70 kilometers an hour. MAGURA has similar characteristics. Mother was used in the long-range attack on the distant naval base at Novorossiysk on Russia’s eastern Black Sea coast, which is 1,000 kilometers from Crimea.

Sea Baby was used in the mid-2023 Kerch Strait Bridge attack and was carrying 850 kg of explosives that inflicted enough damage to render the bridge unusable. The bridge is a key transport route for delivering supplies to Crimea and, as of early 2024, remained unusable.

The drone revolution, which began during the current war in Ukraine, has forced armies and air forces to rethink how they operate and adapt to dealing with thousands of cheap drones rather than traditional weapons like artillery and tanks. Ukraine defeated and largely destroyed the Russian Black Sea fleet with a few anti-ship missiles and hundreds of aerial and naval drones. Ukraine never had a navy, aside from some patrol boats, but by using drones, it defeated Russian naval forces that had long dominated the Black Sea and blockaded Ukrainian ports that handled the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products, as well as vital imports.

Most of the actual fighting was done by Ukrainians operating drones, especially FPV/First Person View drones. The drone operator uses a headset that enables them to see what the drone’s video camera sees. The larger naval drones sometimes had a wireless connection to a land-based operator, but they were also equipped to operate autonomously if that link was disrupted.

Noting the Ukrainian experience, navies, especially the U.S. Navy and the Marines transported by the Navy, began to experiment with drones and experience how decision-making shifted to drone operators, who must make decisions quickly and cannot rely on a hierarchy of superiors to manage everything they do. The Ukrainian experience demonstrated that you train drone operators and then turn them loose in the combat zone.

This new form of warfare does not change the need for large naval task forces capable of moving thousands of kilometers to the combat zone quickly. Drones have had little impact on ship-to-ship warfare but have revolutionized operations in coastal and riverine environments. This is where drones dominate operations, and commanders rely on their drone operators' skills and the capabilities of the latest drone models. The Ukrainian war has demonstrated that technical improvements in drones happen frequently, and many of those changes are in response to some new tactic or technology the enemy is using.

Navies must consider how they will deal with swarms of aerial and naval drones attacking ships that get within a few or dozens of kilometers of a hostile shore.

The Chinese Navy is particularly active in developing new uses for drones. They already have a drone carrier ship and several smaller autonomous ships controlled from shore or a nearby manned ship. The Americans pay close attention to what the Chinese are doing because China expects to have a larger and more powerful fleet than the United States by the 2030s. Chinese naval superiority will rely on how well their drones perform. This is a new and as yet untested naval weapon. The Ukrainians demonstrated how effective drones could be in the Black Sea, but no one has convincingly demonstrated the use of drones in other naval theaters. At least not yet. Whoever develops the most effective drones and tactics first will have an edge in future naval conflicts. Victory will go to the side that most effectively selects and employs its autonomous drone operators.