GUR first presented the latest naval drones capable of destroying aircraft and ships – photos, video
On Wednesday, May 14, in Kyiv, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, and a team of special service specialists presented the latest Magura naval drones capable of destroying enemy aircraft and ships. This was reported by the GUR press service.
Military intelligence introduced a series of Magura naval strike drones:
→ Magura V5, a "killer" of ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet capable of acting as a swarm;
→ Magura V6P multifunctional platform;
→ the Magura V7 missile-carrying drone, which for the first time in history destroyed an enemy combat aircraft;
→ Magura V7 model equipped with a combat machine gun module.
The GUR noted that Magura sea drones are the latest technological weapons, thanks to which the fighters of the Group 13 special forces unit managed to turn the situation in the Black Sea in favor of Ukraine.
During two years of combat use of various modifications of the Magura drone, military intelligence fighters have hit a total of 17 Russian sea and air targets, 15 of which were completely destroyed: in particular, two enemy Mi-8 helicopters, two Su-30 fighters and ships. The damage inflicted on the enemy is estimated at over $500 million, intelligence officials said.
The GUR emphasized that the greatest interest was aroused by the Magura V7 drone with two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles on board, with which Ukrainian fighters shot down two Russian Su-30 fighters with a total value of over $100 million.
"Thanks to Magura and other naval drones, a doctrinal shift has already taken place. There is a famous phrase that Ukraine managed to destroy virtually a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, although Ukraine does not have a fleet. But I would like to say – this is what a fleet is, a modern fleet of the 21st century," noted military expert Mykhailo Samus.
According to him, the struggle between drones and the classic large-tonnage fleet has been going on for several decades.
"Patrol of the sea area, control of sea communications, destruction of air and sea targets. All this is already a reality. This is a new doctrine, which has become a reality in Ukraine," the expert concluded.
- On December 31, 2024, soldiers of the GUR Group 13 special forces unit in the area of Cape Tarkhankut, using a Magura V5 equipped with R-73 SeeDragon missiles, destroyed one Mi-8 and shot down a second.
- On January 2, 2025, intelligence stated that two Mi-8s had been destroyed , not one.
- On May 3, the GUR reported that for the first time in history it had destroyed a Russian aircraft using a naval drone.
- On the same day, President Zelenskyy announced that the Ukrainian military had destroyed the second Russian plane in a day during a strike on temporarily occupied Crimea.
