By Olha Chepil | 2025-05-13

KYIV -- A fighter jet just lost to a boat. In a stunning twist on modern warfare, a Ukrainian sea drone armed with missiles brought down a Russian Su-30 over the Black Sea, the first known instance of an unmanned naval vessel destroying a fixed-wing warplane. Long seen as tools for targeting ships, these surface drones are now proving capable of challenging the skies as well.

'A historical moment'

On May 3, Ukraine's Defense Ministry confirmed that the country's Security Service (SBU) and military intelligence agency (HUR) used a Magura V5 sea drone to destroy the jet near Novorossiysk, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

"For the first time in history, a warplane was destroyed by a sea drone," the ministry posted on its official X account. "War at sea is entering a new era."

The drone was armed with American-made AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, Kyrylo Budanov, chief of HUR, said in a May 3 interview with The War Zone.

"It's a historic moment," Budanov said, adding that Ukraine downed a second Russian Flanker as well. However, no visual evidence of that strike exists, he said.

Revolution at sea and in the air

Throughout the history of war, other aircraft, air defense systems or surface-to-air missiles have been the nemeses of combat aircraft.

Until recently, a scenario in which a surface drone shoots down a fighter jet seemed impossible or at least improbable, analysts say.

"That this took place in the Black Sea is already historic," Konstantin Krivolap, an aviation analyst and former test engineer at Ukraine's Antonov aircraft company, told Kontur.

"On top of that, we have this improbable story of air-to-air missiles being used to shoot down aircraft from a surface platform."

The Magura V7 is the latest and most advanced iteration in Ukraine's series of sea drones. It is heavier and smarter and built through close collaboration between the country's defense industry and Western partners. Unlike its predecessors, the V7 introduces a range of unique capabilities that set it apart on the evolving battlefield.

"I couldn't imagine that these missiles could be attached to the Magura because the AIM-9 weighs something like 90kg. When I figured out how they did it, it blew my engineer's mind," Krivolap said.

'A universal maritime entity'

The Magura V7's modular design allows it to be outfitted with a range of weaponry, including missiles and torpedoes, depending on the mission, say analysts. The drone also integrates with ground and aerial reconnaissance systems, enabling it to receive real-time targeting data.

The V7 should not be seen as merely a short-range air defense system, said Alexander Kovalenko, a military analyst based in Odesa and correspondent for the website InfoResist. Rather, it functions as a multi-role strike platform capable of engaging land, sea and air targets.

"This isn't merely a cutter that has a certain number of explosives on it. This is a universal maritime entity," he told Kontur.

The Magura V7 received a precise target designation from one of the reconnaissance drones patrolling the Black Sea basin, Ukrainian military personnel say.

Based on this information, Ukraine launched two AIM-9 missiles from the platform.

"The Russians lost two combat vehicles that cost a total of more than $70 million. That's a pretty good result for Ukraine," Kovalenko said, echoing Budanov's contention that Ukraine shot down two Su-30's.

Not the 1st air target

Originally designed to target warships, infrastructure and maritime transport, sea drones are now emerging as active players in air defense, and they are proving remarkably effective.

This is not the the first time that Ukraine's Magura drones have taken down Russian aircraft. Earlier strikes by these drones destroyed several Russian helicopters, prompting a shift in Russian tactics, said Kovalenko.

On December 31, Magura drones hit three Russian military helicopters over the Black Sea, destroying two Mi-8s and damaging a third, which managed an emergency landing.

Once helicopters were deemed too vulnerable, Russia began using fighter jets to intercept drones, assuming they posed less of a threat to faster, more agile aircraft.

But that assumption quickly proved wrong.

Now, analysts say, fighter jets have become the new targets.

"It's very hard to spot these small surface drones. There's no reliable detection equipment. And it turned out that there is no way to shoot them down except the planes' own machine guns and cannons," Krivolap said.

Aviation against drones

Russia's only effective countermeasure against Ukrainian sea drones remains its combat aircraft, say military observers. Lacking precision-guided missiles suited for small maritime targets, Moscow has little choice but to rely on fighter jets. As Kovalenko explains, this situation has led to a paradox.

"So you have this multimillion-dollar, hugely expensive fighter with the full array of missiles and bombs and so on ... and it's forced to fire cannons at a small vessel that's 2km away," he said.

The Su-30, in particular, is typically considered a dominant force in the air, "a predator," Krivolap said.

"It's a big threat; it has a slew of weapons, cannons, unguided munitions and guided missiles of different ranges. Whatever it sets out to destroy, it's supposed to destroy. But in this case the opposite happened."

'Unsafe' place for Russia

The Black Sea is no longer a secure zone for Russian forces, and that vulnerability is growing, according to Yevhen Yerin, a spokesperson for HUR. Russian forces can no longer afford to lower their defenses, Yerin emphasized in speaking to United News May 5.

"First we struck ships and helicopters, and now we're striking planes. That proves that we're moving in the right direction. We are moving tirelessly, and this movement will continue," Yerin said.

The Magura platform has evolved into a "family" of multi-role drones, designed for various operational tasks, he said. The technology is continuing to advance and will become even more capable in the future.