# REPORT: Sea Trident ST-1000 — the 10-ton Ukrainian underwater drone redefining naval warfare

> On June 15, 2026, at Eurosatory 2026 in Paris, the Ukrainian company Global Mark unveiled for the first time its Sea Trident ST-1000 — an Extra-Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV) that represents a major technological breakthrough in Ukrainian naval capabilities. Ten meters long. Two meters wide. Ten tons. A range of 2,000 nautical miles. An operational depth of 60 meters

- Author: Maxime Marquette
- Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co)
- Section: Reportage
- Published: 2026-06-29
- Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/reportage-sea-trident-st-1000-le-drone-sous-marin-ukrainien-de-10-tonnes-qui-red

## Key takeaways

- Specifications: 10 m long, 2 m wide, 10 tons, a 2,000 nautical mile range, a 60 m operational depth and a payload of up to 1,000 kg.
- Missions: according to Naval News, the payload can support kamikaze strikes, logistics, interception of other UUVs, or launching FPV drones.
- Stealth: the system can operate at 5 meters depth to infiltrate contested zones.
- Context: the author compares it with Boeing's American Orca program and sees Black Sea and possible Baltic or export uses.
- Caveats: the specs are Global Mark's claims, not independently tested, and the author states his pro-Ukrainian bias.

## Introduction: Paris, Eurosatory 2026 — the submarine weapon no one saw coming

### Ukraine's first major underwater drone unveiled in Paris

On **June 15, 2026**, at **Eurosatory 2026** in **Paris**, the Ukrainian company **Global Mark** unveiled for the first time its **Sea Trident ST-1000** — an Extra-Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (**XLUUV**) that represents a major technological breakthrough in Ukrainian naval capabilities. Ten meters long. Two meters wide. Ten tons. A range of **2,000 nautical miles**. An operational depth of **60 meters**. And a payload capacity of up to **1,000 kg**.

This is not a laboratory prototype — it is a functional system presented at one of the most rigorous defense exhibitions in the world. **Global Mark** displayed it before buyers and industrial partners from some fifty countries. The **Sea Trident ST-1000** marks **Ukraine**'s entry into a category of naval systems that only the world's great military powers had mastered until now. And it says something essential about the transformation of naval warfare that the Black Sea is teaching the world.

### Ukraine and the naval drone revolution

**Ukraine** has already proved its mastery of surface naval drones — the **Magura**, **Marichka**, and other systems that forced the Russian **Black Sea Fleet** to withdraw from **Sevastopol**. The **Sea Trident** represents the third dimension of that naval revolution: the underwater domain. With this system, **Ukraine** can threaten Russian naval targets from the surface, from the air, and now from the depths — a combination that makes Russian naval defense extraordinarily complex.

This report is from a journalist who has followed the transformation of Ukrainian naval capabilities closely since **2022** and who recognizes in the **Sea Trident ST-1000** a qualitative leap whose implications extend far beyond the Black Sea. This drone is a system that will be studied, copied, and adapted by navies around the world. And it was developed by a Ukrainian company during an existential war.

*A 10-ton underwater drone developed by a Ukrainian startup during a war — if I had told you that in 2022, you would have laughed in my face. In 2026, it is real, it was presented in Paris, and navies around the world are taking note. Ukraine keeps surprising me. And every surprise is a lesson for everyone who underestimated this country.*

## Technical specifications: a world-class XLUUV

### Dimensions, weight, and core capabilities

The **Sea Trident ST-1000** measures **10 meters long**, **2 meters wide**, and **1.5 meters high** (without the mast assembly). It weighs **10 tons** — a mass that places it in the **Extra-Large UUV** category under NATO terminology, which distinguishes small AUVs weighing a few dozen kilograms from large-scale systems capable of strategic missions. For comparison, the **XLUUV** programs developed by the **United States** (Boeing's **Orca** program) and the **United Kingdom** (**Cetus** program) fall into this same size and weight range.

Cruising speed is **6 knots**, with a maximum speed of **10 knots**. Those speed figures are consistent with the principal tactical uses: discrete penetration of defended zones, mine laying, precision strikes, and payload delivery. The operational depth of **60 meters** is sufficient to operate under most surface sonar detection systems, though shallower than conventional submarines — reflecting a specialization for shallow-water operations such as the **Black Sea** or the **Baltic Sea**.

### The 2,000 nautical mile range: strategic autonomy

The range of **2,000 nautical miles** is the most impressive specification of the **Sea Trident ST-1000**. To put that figure in perspective: the Black Sea spans approximately **600 nautical miles** from east to west. A range of **2,000 nautical miles** means the **Sea Trident** can cross the entire Black Sea multiple times without refueling — launching from Ukrainian bases, striking targets anywhere across the Black Sea, and returning. Or, in other geographic contexts, operating at distances that give it truly strategic autonomy.

That range, combined with its autonomous navigation capability and underwater stealth, makes the **Sea Trident ST-1000** a system potentially capable of missions well beyond Ukrainian coastal waters. The same technology that allows it to threaten Russian ships in the **Black Sea** could, in other deployment contexts, reach objectives across a much broader area.

*2,000 nautical miles of range for a Ukrainian underwater drone — that puts the Mediterranean within reach from the Black Sea, or the entire Baltic traversable end to end. Global Mark has built something that is not only useful for the current war. It is a platform that interests any navy seeking to project an asymmetric threat at strategic distance. That market is enormous.*

## The 1,000 kg payload: four distinct missions

### Kamikaze, logistics, interception, and FPV drone carrier

The **Sea Trident ST-1000**'s **1,000 kg payload** can be configured for four fundamentally different missions, according to **Naval News**: **kamikaze strike** (a **1,000 kg** explosive charge for the destruction of ships or coastal infrastructure); **logistical delivery** (transport of cargo, supplies, or materials into contested zones); **interception and neutralization of other UUVs** (enemy underwater drone hunter); and **FPV drone carrier** (launching micro-drones from depth).

That mission versatility is one of the most remarkable features of the system. The same vehicle can serve as a highly destructive strike weapon, a discreet logistical carrier, an anti-UUV hunter, or an advanced launch platform for aerial drones. The operational flexibility that provides military commanders is considerable — it makes the system unpredictable for the adversary and adaptable to a wide variety of tactical scenarios.

### The kamikaze mission: 1,000 kg of explosives below the waterline

The kamikaze mission deserves particular attention. A **1,000 kg** charge placed below the waterline of a warship or commercial vessel is a lethal threat to virtually any type of surface ship. Conventional torpedoes, which operate on similar principles, use **300–400 kg** charges to sink ships. A charge of **1,000 kg** exploding beneath a ship's hull creates a water column and bubble jet that can fracture even the most robust structures.

For the Russian **Black Sea Fleet**, already forced to withdraw from **Sevastopol** under pressure from Ukrainian surface drones, the prospect of also having to contend with long-range autonomous underwater threats adds an additional layer of operational complexity. Defending against surface drones is hard. Defending against underwater drones simultaneously is harder still.

*1,000 kg of explosive payload beneath a warship's hull — that is the end of that ship, regardless of its size. Global Mark's engineers did not build a gadget. They built a high-lethality underwater anti-surface weapon. And they presented it at Eurosatory without inflating the specs. That is impressive and a little terrifying — but it is the reality of naval warfare in 2026.*

## Stealth: 5-meter depth to penetrate contested zones

### Operating at 5 meters as a tactical tool

One of the most sophisticated tactical features of the **Sea Trident ST-1000** is its ability to operate at just **5 meters depth** for discrete infiltration into contested maritime zones. At that depth, the system is invisible to surface radars, extremely difficult to detect by high-frequency sonars calibrated for deep underwater threats, and practically undetectable visually from surface vessels.

That very-shallow-depth infiltration capability enables operational scenarios that surface drones cannot achieve: slipping under anti-drone net barriers, bypassing port defenses, approaching anchored or underway ships from an unexpected direction. This is an operational dimension that does not exist with current Ukrainian surface drones like the **Magura** — and it fills a critical tactical gap in Ukraine's naval arsenal.

### Comparison with the American Orca program

The **Sea Trident ST-1000** is comparable in its category to Boeing's American **Orca** program — an **XLUUV** developed for the US Navy with similar characteristics (large size, long range, mission versatility). But the **Orca** took years to develop, with **Department of Defense** resources and billions of dollars in contracts. The **Sea Trident** was developed by a Ukrainian startup, under fire, with incomparably more limited resources.

This comparison is not meant to imply the **Sea Trident** is better than the **Orca** — full specifications remain partially confidential and real-world performance remains to be proven. It is meant to illustrate that **Ukraine** developed a system of this sophistication in a context where no defense expert would have bet on it four years ago.

*A Ukrainian startup developing the equivalent of Boeing's XLUUV program — faster, with fewer resources, under fire. If that performance does not take your breath away, I don't know what would. This is war engineering at its most extraordinary. And Global Mark deserves to have its name remembered in the history of naval defense.*

## Black Sea missions: a perfect operational context

### The Black Sea as a unique testing ground

The **Black Sea** presents characteristics that make it an ideal operational environment for the **Sea Trident ST-1000**. Maximum depth of approximately **2,200 meters** (with large shallow zones along Ukrainian and Romanian coasts), a limited geographic space that maximizes coverage with a **2,000 nautical mile** range, the presence of a hostile enemy fleet, and the absence of significant adversary underwater naval forces — **Russia** has not operated attack submarines in the **Black Sea** since Ukrainian strikes made **Sevastopol** too dangerous.

That context means the **Sea Trident ST-1000** could operate in the Black Sea without facing the primary threat that makes underwater systems vulnerable: enemy submarines. Russia's principal defenses against this system would be hull-mounted sonars on surface ships, anti-submarine helicopters, and perhaps Russian underwater drones — all defenses that the **5-meter** operating depth and **10-knot** speed significantly complicate.

### The shadow fleet and Russian tankers as potential targets

Ukrainian sources have discussed the development of naval drones capable of intercepting and seizing vessels from the Russian **shadow fleet** — the tankers circumventing Western sanctions to transport Russian oil. If the **Sea Trident ST-1000** can be configured for an interception mission (not only destruction), it could become a tool for enforcing maritime sanctions that **Ukraine** claims in its maritime space and beyond.

That is a strategic dimension that naval analysts are beginning to explore. An underwater drone capable of discreetly approaching a tanker, placing charges, disrupting its propulsion systems, or even — in future configurations — forcing it to stop would be a revolutionary instrument of maritime economic pressure. The **Black Sea** as an experimentation ground for new forms of naval economic warfare.

*Ukrainian underwater drones potentially intercepting tankers from Russia's shadow fleet — that is a shift from military war to submarine economic warfare. Ukraine is seeking every possible dimension to pressure the Putin regime. And the Black Sea, until now a theater of conventional naval strikes, is potentially becoming the testing ground for a new form of maritime coercion.*

## Global Mark: the company behind the Sea Trident

### A company about which little is known — and that is normal

**Global Mark**, the Ukrainian company behind the **Sea Trident ST-1000**, is little known to the general public. That is deliberate: companies developing sensitive weapons systems during an active war have good reasons to maintain a low profile. What is known: the company developed Ukraine's first **XLUUV**, presented it at **Eurosatory 2026** before a serious international audience, and produced technical specifications consistent with the capabilities announced.

The choice to present the **Sea Trident** at **Eurosatory** is itself a strategic decision: it is the signal of a company that wants to export, that is looking for industrial partners, and that is sufficiently confident in its capabilities to expose them to international competition. That is not the posture of a fragile startup — it is that of a company that believes in its product.

### The Ukrainian innovation chain: from necessity to export

**Global Mark** fits within the same innovation chain as **Fire Point** (Flamingo, FP-9), **Luch** (Neptune), and other Ukrainian companies that transformed the necessity of war into industrial excellence. The difference: where **Fire Point** and **Luch** have documented operational track records (confirmed strikes, the Moskva sunk), **Global Mark** is presenting its first major system. The coming months will reveal whether the **Sea Trident** can join the club of Ukrainian systems proven in real combat.

If it does — and the technical specifications presented at **Eurosatory** suggest the foundations are solid — the **Sea Trident ST-1000** will redefine the underwater threat in the **Black Sea** and position **Ukraine** as an exporter of large autonomous underwater systems. A market that does not yet truly exist — and that **Ukraine** could be the first to occupy seriously.

*Global Mark presents the Sea Trident for the first time and no one yet knows quite who they are. It's the same situation Fire Point was in during 2023 — a Ukrainian startup with impressive specs and a story to prove. Fire Point delivered on its promises. I would bet Global Mark will do the same. The history of the Ukrainian defense industry since 2022 has taught me never to underestimate these companies.*

## Implications for the Baltic Sea and other theaters

### The transferability of the concept to European theaters

The **Sea Trident ST-1000** was designed for the **Black Sea** — but its technical characteristics make it applicable to other naval theaters. The **Baltic Sea**, shallow (**25–50 meters** on average) and geographically constrained like the **Black Sea**, is an environment in which **NATO** member nations' navies are increasingly thinking about the threat posed by Russian underwater drones. A **Sea Trident** adapted for the **Baltic** would be a leading defensive and offensive tool for the **NATO** members bordering it.

The presentation at **Eurosatory** was clearly targeting that potential market. Representatives from Baltic, Scandinavian, and other **NATO** member navies were present at the exhibition. Interest in Ukrainian underwater systems proven under real combat conditions is real — and a purchase or co-development agreement from a **NATO** member would instantly transform **Global Mark**'s commercial standing.

### Unmanned submarine warfare: the next frontier

The **Sea Trident ST-1000** is part of a broader trend: unmanned submarine warfare is the next frontier in naval conflict. Major military powers are investing massively in **XLUUVs** because they offer capabilities that conventional submarines cannot provide: long-duration missions without human risk, smaller sizes that simplify deployment, unit costs lower than nuclear or conventional submarines, and potentially reduced acoustic signatures.

By developing the **Sea Trident ST-1000**, **Ukraine** is not only building a weapon for this war. It is building expertise in a category of systems that will define naval warfare for decades to come. That expertise — acquired under real combat pressure — will be one of Ukraine's most valuable strategic assets after the war, in its relationships with **NATO**'s naval allies.

*Unmanned submarine warfare — that is the frontier all the world's navies are approaching, and one Ukraine may have crossed first with a system ready for export. In ten years, military technology historians will note that during an existential war, a Ukrainian startup developed one of the world's first operational XLUUVs. That is the kind of innovation only necessity can deliver.*

## The export market: who could buy the Sea Trident ST-1000?

### Potential buyers and priority markets

The presence of the **Sea Trident ST-1000** at **Eurosatory 2026** signals commercial openness. The most natural potential buyers are the navies of countries bordering shallow seas where large autonomous underwater systems would hold strategic value: the Baltic states (**Estonia**, **Latvia**, **Lithuania**), **Sweden**, **Finland**, **Poland**, **Romania**, and **Bulgaria** for the **Black Sea**. All of these countries share a growing concern about the Russian underwater threat.

**Middle East** and **Southeast Asian** countries represent another potential market: navies operating in shallow straits and contested coastal waters — the **Persian Gulf**, the **Strait of Malacca**, the **South China Sea** — could find in the **Sea Trident** an asymmetric deterrence tool against adversaries with greater conventional military strength. The **2,000 nautical mile** range opens geographic possibilities that very few current systems can offer at this size and cost.

*Baltic states facing the Russian threat, Asian navies in contested waters — the Sea Trident market, if the specs hold in real operations, is potentially enormous. Global Mark may be building not only a weapon for the Ukrainian war, but the foundation of an export pipeline that will fund Ukrainian defense for years after peace.*

### Diplomacy through hardware: the drone as a foreign policy argument

For **Ukraine**, selling the **Sea Trident ST-1000** to strategic partners is not only a commercial matter — it is diplomacy through hardware. Every country that acquires a Ukrainian system becomes a defense partner with a concrete interest in the success of the Ukrainian defense industry. That integration creates ties that transcend political declarations and agreements on paper.

**France** with its **BRAVE FRANCE** program, **Germany** with its technology agreements, **Sweden** producing Ukrainian **MAUL** drones — each of these partners now has an economic stake in the survival and prosperity of Ukrainian industry. That is the best kind of security: not promises, but well-understood mutual interests.

## Conclusion: the Sea Trident as a symbol of a Ukraine innovating for tomorrow

### Beyond the current war

The **Sea Trident ST-1000** is a weapon for the current war — but it is also much more than that. It is a system that points to what naval warfare will look like over the next few decades. Large autonomous underwater vehicles operating across thousands of nautical miles without human intervention, capable of multiple mission types, produced at industrial scale — that is the direction every major navy in the world is heading.

Whether the **Sea Trident** is deployed operationally in the coming months or serves primarily to establish **Global Mark**'s position on the international market, its presentation at **Eurosatory 2026** is a historic moment for the Ukrainian defense industry. And one more signal that **Ukraine** in **2026** is not only a country defending itself — it is a country inventing the future of warfare.

### A report that will stay with me

I have been covering the war in **Ukraine** for more than four years. I have seen highs and lows, victories and defeats, heroes and tragedies. The **Sea Trident ST-1000** is one of the most striking artifacts of this extraordinary period: a machine developed under the bombs, presented in **Paris**, capable of threatening the navies of powers that did not think they would need to defend from that direction. If that is not national resilience transformed into industrial excellence, I don't know what is.

*A 10-ton underwater drone, developed under the bombs, presented in Paris, potentially headed toward NATO navies — this is the most surprising narrative of the Ukrainian war for a naval observer. I did not see this coming. And perhaps that is the most important lesson: never underestimate a people fighting for its survival. They will find solutions that no one else would have thought to look for.*

**By Maxime Marquette, columnist**

## Columnist's transparency note

### Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events.

### Method and sources

This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here.

**Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies.

**Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations.

When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**.

### Nature of the analysis

The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted.

My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors.

This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text.

## Sources

### Primary sources

- [Naval News — Ukraine's massive new underwater drone Sea Trident ST-1000 — June 26, 2026](https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/06/video-ukraines-massive-new-underwater-drone-sea-trident-st-1000/)

- [News Ukraine RBC — Ukraine prepares sea drones for new missions — June 2026](https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/ukraine-prepares-sea-drones-for-new-missions-1782324502.html)

- [EuroMaidan Press — Russia's sea drones run on smuggled Starlink — June 24, 2026](https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/06/24/russias-sea-drones-run-on-smuggled-starlink-ukraine-sank-three-before-they-reached-shore/)

### Secondary sources

- [Richard Young — Black Sea warning for the world's navies — June 2026](https://www.richardcyoung.com/terrorism/weapons/weapons-of-war/could-the-black-sea-be-a-warning-for-the-worlds-navies/)

- [Aerospace Global News — Ukraine drones on Russian warships — June 2026](https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/ukraine-drones-russian-warships/)

- [Shephard Media — Eurosatory 2026 wartime iteration — June 2026](https://shephardmedia.com/news/air-warfare/eurosatory-2026-wartime-iteration-gives-ukraine-an-edge-as-future-uav-exporter/)

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Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/reportage-sea-trident-st-1000-le-drone-sous-marin-ukrainien-de-10-tonnes-qui-red