Russian Su-30s were shot down by US missiles from a new anti-aircraft drone – Ukrainian Intel Boss
On May 2, the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) used new Magura V7 anti-aircraft naval drones and American AIM-9 missiles to destroy two Russian Su-30 aircraft. This was reported by the head of the HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with The War Zone.
According to the military, intelligence used three Magura-7 naval drones during the attack, two of which fired on the aircraft.
The Magura V7 is an anti-aircraft modification of the Magura V5 drone, Budanov explained, but at the same time he refused to clarify the difference between the two models.
The HUR began installing American AIM-9 missiles on naval drones in January 2025, the head of the service said. These are air-to-air missiles, and in the AIM-9M modification (The War Zone thinks that this is what is used on the Magura), the maximum range of this weapon against a stationary target reaches 21 kilometers.
Budanov did not comment on whether the May 2 strikes were the first time such missiles had been used from a naval drone. Prior to this incident, it was known that the HUR was using Soviet-made R-73 missiles on Magura – with their help in December 2024, two Russian Mi-8 helicopters were shot down and another was damaged.
"We use several models [of missiles] on our Magura V7, but the best results [are] the AIM-9," the head of military intelligence noted.
In the same interview, Budanov reported that, according to preliminary data, the crew of the second of the destroyed Su-30s did not survive.
The AIM-9M guided missile with an infrared homing system has improved protection against infrared countermeasures (e.g., heat traps), enhanced target recognition capability against the background, and a rocket engine with reduced smoke emissions. The United States first received the AIM-9M in 1983.
At the same time, the media notes that, unlike the R-73, the AIM-9M does not have the ability to capture and engage targets at large angles relative to the axis of the missile or its carrier. This makes it difficult to aim the missile at an aircraft if it is installed on a naval drone, the resource believes.
Ukraine has received an unspecified number of AIM-9Ms from the US and possibly other partners. Media reports suggest that AIM-9s may also be used on the FrankenSAM hybrid air defense system.
- On the evening of May 2, Ukrainian defenders in the Black Sea destroyed a Russian Su-30 aircraft – the world's first destruction of a combat aircraft by a naval drone. At the time, it was reported that the operation was carried out by a special unit of the HUR in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine and other units of the Defense Forces.
On the night of May 3, Russians complained about drone and unmanned boat attacks on the Krasnodar Territory. Explosions were heard in Anapa, Taman, and Novorossiysk.
- In the evening of the same day, President Zelensky confirmed that the Ukrainian military had destroyed the second Russian plane in a day during a strike on temporarily occupied Crimea.
