The Russian Black Sea Fleet faced a new threat: the Ukrainian group Brave-1 presented an underwater marine drone it developed called “Toloka”, reports naval analyst H.I. Sutton on his website.

Sutton notes that the drone’s design clearly shows that it was designed as a kamikaze torpedo, with a large body and horizontal stabilizers with small engines mounted on the ends.

He also says that given this configuration, the stabilizers likely serve both a navigational and a propulsion role, and that the drone should be manoeuvrable.

Sutton also notes that this drone looks like a natural evolution of the maritime surface drones that Ukraine has been developing so far.

“As an underwater vehicle, it is less detectable and more difficult to neutralize with fire. In addition, its warhead hits below the water level, so the probability of submersion of the target is greater,” the military analyst notes.

But this design also has its drawbacks, particularly in terms of range and speed. “In addition, the communication mast, which may contain an electro-optical camera, must be above the surface of the water,” explains Sutton.

According to him, the concept of the drone is similar to the devices used by the Croatians since the Balkan War and more recently by Iranian forces.

“But the Toloka design is different from those,” he notes, adding that the drone design “makes a lot of sense.”

Marine drones, an amazing weapon in Ukraine’s arsenal

While it’s unclear how well the underwater drone will be used in operational missions, Brave-1, a group that funds military development for Ukraine, says it is working on several versions of the Toloka, including one 4 meters long and up to 1,200 kilometers

“The numbers may be ambitious, but the project is interesting and clearly has potential,” the naval analyst concludes.

Starting mostly last fall, Ukrainian forces have carried out several naval drone attacks on the Russian naval base in Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

During one of the latest attacks, which took place at the end of March, the Ukrainians probably also used a new type of maritime drone.

In September last year, the first photos of a drone of unknown origin near the naval base in Sevastopol, discovered by the Russians, appeared on Russian social networks and Telegram channels.

The images surprised even military analysts, as Ukraine has not disclosed anything about developing a naval drone, and such a success would be all the more stunning as Russian bombing had leveled its arms industry in the first weeks of the war.

However, the new model turns out to be the first underwater drone developed in Ukraine, as HI Sutton also notes.

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