Kamikaze Stalker 5.0: Ukraine unveils upgraded sea drone with increased range

Five-metre long drone can carry payloads of up to 150kg

A model of the new Ukrainian Stalker 5.0 sea drone at the international 'Black Sea Security Forum 2024' in Odesa, south-western Ukraine. EPA

Ukraine has unveiled its latest weapon against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet – a high-powered sea drone, which can reach speeds of 46mph, with a range that could hit the Kerch bridge between Crimea and mainland Russia.

The unmanned vessel, 5m long and 1.2m wide, is called the kamikaze Stalker 5.0, has an operational range of 600km.

It is powered by a 60-horsepower speedboat engine.

As its name suggests, the drone, which is equipped with a Starlink satellite terminal that can relay live video feed back to its operator, can be used for kamikaze missions and carry payloads of up to 150kg.

Each unit costs £50,000.

It could also be used to deliver supplies, including food, water, military or medical supplies.

It was unveiled to the public at the Black Sea Security Forum this week.

Ukraine has launched multiple long-range attacks on targets on and near the Crimean peninsula during Russia's 27-month-long full-scale invasion, breaking the Russian naval blockade and reopening the Black Sea to its grain exports.

Ukraine used a kamikaze naval drone called the Sea Baby to hit the Kerch Bridge last year, causing significant damage to road lanes. The bridge is symbolically important to Moscow, linking occupied Crimea with the Russian mainland, and it is used to provide supplies to its military and the civilians who live there.

Ukraine has used drones to disable at least a third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, with the latest in a string of successful attacks being against a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship in March and a Russian landing warship off the coast of Crimea in February.

Earlier this month, Ukraine destroyed a Russian tugboat, Saturn (or Proteus) off the coast of Russian-occupied Crimea after successfully breaking through the defensive barriers.

However, one of Russia's greatest naval humiliations occurred in April 2022, when its previous flagship the Moskva was sunk by a Ukrainian anti-ship missile.

Meanwhile, an overnight air drone attack set several oil storage tanks ablaze near the town of Azov in southern Russia on Tuesday, sparking a large fire, local officials said.

Ukraine did not immediately claim responsibility but it has carried out similar attacks on Russian energy sites before, arguing they are fair targets given that they fuel Moscow's military.

On the battlefield, Ukraine said that Russian forces were fighting to enter the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a flashpoint town of the war in the east, whose capture could accelerate Russian advances.

Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, where war-scarred Chasiv Yar lies, has borne the brunt of fighting over more than two years and the Kremlin claims the region is part of Russia.

"The enemy keeps trying to advance to the microdistrict Novy in the town of Chasiv Yar," Ukraine's military said in a briefing, adding that fighting was "currently taking place".

Further south, it said Moscow's forces were also pushing towards Pokrovsk, where they were closing in on a key road that would complicate supplies between strategic hubs in the region.

Ukraine's air force meanwhile said it had downed 10 Iranian-designed attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight.