Ukraine’s Magura V5 Drones Are Pummeling Russia’s Black Sea Fleet
Since its introduction, the Magura V5 has been involved in a number of notable sinkings.
Prior to its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian Navy was considered a first-rate force able to at the very least ensure the sovereignty and integrity of Russian waters while exercising some limited power projection capabilities. Once the shooting started in Ukraine, however, the Russian Navy was, much like the army, exposed as a paper tiger; its Black Sea Fleet has lost several prominent ships and been forced from its headquarters in Crimea. This is due in large part to the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ asymmetric warfare and significant reliance on unmanned systems.
Unmanned Systems in Use
At the outset of the conflict, Ukraine had limited resources capable of significantly degrading the Russian naval threat in the Black Sea. In late 2022, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR) began an acquisition process for an unmanned surface vessel. The resultant system is the Magura V5. While the small craft is capable of a variety of missions, from reconnaissance to mine countermeasures, it has gained notoriety in its role as a kamikaze attack craft.
Since its introduction, the Magura V5 has been involved in a number of notable sinkings. While the Magura V5 did not participate in the attack that sank the cruiser Moskva, undoubtedly the worst loss for the Russian Navy to date, it has been credited with sinking a patrol ship, two small landing craft, the missile corvette Ivanovets, and the large landing ship Tsezar Kunikov.
These strikes began in the Western Black Sea but gradually pushed further and further east until Ukrainian drones were able to strike at the Kerch Strait bridge and Russian infrastructure in the Eastern Black Sea. In order to slow the pace of attacks, Russia began to employ rotary and tactical air assets to target the unprotected drones as they transited from their ports around Odessa to targets in the east.
Russian planners may soon be forced to reevaluate this strategy, however, given the latest development to the Magura V5: its ability to carry and employ the R-73 (NATO: RS-AA-11 Archer) air-to-air missile. In late December, Magura V5 drones successfully targeted and shot down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter. This marks a significant upgrade to the lethality and flexibility already present on the naval drones and yet another innovative use case.
“Laboratory” for Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures
Western militaries have not been blind to these drones’ successes. At a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies panel, RDML Michael Mattis, the director of strategic effects for naval commander Europe/Africa, spoke on the importance of the conflict in the Black Sea for informing U.S. tactics, techniques, and procedures related to naval drone warfare and its countermeasures.
During the talk, the RDML referred to the fight in the Black Sea as a “battle lab” and stressed the importance of “study[ing] and learn[ing]” what’s going on in Ukraine in order to “transition those lessons to Indo-Pacom [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] in the future fight.”
The adaptation of the Magura V5 to have anti-air capability is yet another step in the move and counter-move ongoing in the Black Sea, degrading Russian abilities to stymie surface drone attacks with air power. As the fight continues to evolve, it’s clear naval leaders around the world will be highly focused on lessons learned.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: Shutterstock.