Ukraine uses naval drones with anti-aircraft missiles
Footage posted by Russian media has shown that the Magura V5 uncrewed surface vessel (USV), used by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine’s Group 13 special forces unit to destroy a Russian speedboat in the Black Sea on 6 May, was equipped with R-73 air-to-air missiles.
The invaders showed footage of the interception of a Ukrainian naval drone with R-73 missiles that attacked their forces in the Black Sea. The video was released by the Russian media.
The video shows a Ukrainian naval drone performing maneuvers to avoid a fire from a Russian Ka-29 helicopter flying to intercept it.
An important case in this event is the appearance of a superstructure on board the drone that resembles the Soviet R-73 air-to-air missile.
The R-73 is a short-range missile and can indeed be launched from ground-based systems. The missile does not require radar or other systems for guidance, as it is equipped with their own infrared seeker.
This missile on board the drone can be distinguished from a similar but earlier R-60 by the specific shape of its tail fin.
The video does not show the type of drone that was carrying the anti-aircraft missiles, but it was most likely a Magura V5 drone modernized for such tasks. These are the drones used in today’s attack on Russian vessels in the Black Sea.
Group 13 unit of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine destroyed a Russian speedboat in the Vuzka Bay near Chornomorske in the west of the Crimean peninsula using this type of drone.
It is worth noting that the Russian military managed to inflict critical damage to the drone in the video, resulting in a powerful explosion. Given this, it can be concluded that the ‘anti-aircraft naval drones’ continue to carry a warhead and can hit enemy ships.
The SeaBaby naval drones used by the SSU special unit are also equipped with launchers for RPV-16 flamethrowers.
Source: Militarnyi
