A Russian oil tanker was hit again in the Back Sea on Tuesday which is the fourth incident in a week as Ukrainian forces are stepping up their attack on Vladimir Putin's shadow fleet. The Turkish directorate of maritime affairs said the tanker, Midvolga 2 was hit 80 miles of their coastline by a Ukrainian drone as it sailed from Georgia carrying a cargo of sunflower oil. The ship did not request any help and no injuries were reported among their thirteen crew members.
Ukraine's internal security agency has unveiled new variants of its "Sea Baby" naval drone, giving the boats an extended range and arming them with automated machine guns and rocket launchers. The modifications highlight Ukraine's continued efforts and investment in the development of its naval drone programs, which are among the country's most important innovations of the war.
Very few combat platforms involved in the Ukraine war have escaped losses. The Russian Be-12 "Chaika" amphibious aircraft was one of them, at least until Sunday, when Ukrainian forces said they destroyed two of the planes in a historic first. Ukraine's intelligence directorate (HUR) said on Monday that two Russian Be‑12 aircraft, which Russia is said to use to patrol and hunt Ukrainian naval drones, were destroyed in a Sunday attack by its special "Ghosts" unit in occupied Crimea.
As the tech war moves forward amid fighting in Ukraine, Russia's Black Sea Fleet is testing new jamming-resistant naval drones guided by fiber-optic cables. State media outlet TASS reported that the fleet received uncrewed vessels for trials, with combat testing scheduled for September. Both Russia and Ukraine have been experimenting with naval drones and drones with fiber-optic controls, which are immune to electronic warfare tactics. The two sides are racing to expand their fleets of uncrewed systems and blunt each other's innovations.
