Ukraine has made a breakthrough in modern military tactics – for the first time in history, combat aircraft was destroyed by a naval drone. This was stated by the Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov in a commentary for The War Zone.
On 2 May, the DIU’s military, using three Magura-7 unmanned maritime platforms, attacked Russian Su-30 fighters in the Black Sea. Two of them were hit by infrared-guided AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles fired from drones.
“This is a historic moment,” Budanov stressed.
According to him, one of the Su-30 crews survived and was picked up by a civilian vessel, while the other was probably killed. The use of air-to-air missiles from offshore platforms has become a unique event in global military practice.
Budanov also noted that the GRU began integrating the AIM-9 into the Magura-7 in January, and the results were “significantly better” than those of its Soviet counterparts. The Magura-7 is a modification of the previously used Magura-5, adapted to fire at air targets.
This is not the first successful case of a maritime drone attack: On 31 December 2024, a Magura V5 destroyed two Russian Mi-8 helicopters, which was also a groundbreaking episode in world military history.
