5 days ago
AIM-9X Being Used By Ukraine's Drone Boats To Engage Russian Jets, Not AIM-9M
As part of a wide-ranging exclusive interview, Ukrainian Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov talked to The War Zone about his agency's game-changing drone boat campaign against Russia's Black Sea Fleet (BSF). These operations are ongoing. Ukraine just launched another unmanned surface vessel mission against Russian-held oil platforms in the northern Black Sea area. Budanov has also told us that Ukraine's drone boats are actually using the more advanced AIM-9X Sidewinder instead of legacy AIM-9Ms, as previously reported, to attack Russian aircraft.
You can also check out the first part of our interview with Budanov, where we discussed exactly what North Korea is getting in exchange for its support of Russia's invasion here.
Ukraine's drone boat campaign in the Black Sea has proven that a nation with nearly no remaining traditional navy but an array of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) can keep one of the world's largest sea services at bay. Over the course of the past three years, Ukraine's USVs have attacked Russian ports, ships and the Kerch Bridge. They have forced Russia's Black Sea Fleet (BSF) to avoid operating in the open waters of the northern Black Sea, and limit activities in other areas.
The campaign began with kamikaze drone boats, laden with explosives and set out on one-way missions to hit Russian targets. Ukraine has since made a series of advancements, turning its USVs into reusable anti-aircraft platforms, first-person view (FPV) drone launchers and even gunboats. As we previously noted, Ukraine's early drone boat attacks on the BSF were a 'wakeup call' marking 'a new point in unmanned warfare.' The lessons of its ongoing campaign have been noted by the U.S. Navy, Cmdr. Michael Linn said
In early May, we were the first to report that Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) used its new Magura V7 USV, armed with a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles, to shoot down a pair of Russian Su-30 Flanker fighters flying over the Black Sea. At the time, all indications were that this was the legacy AIM-9L/M model, which seemed strange — more on that in a moment. But now we know AIM-9Xs were actually used. The Su-30 downing followed GUR's claimed downing of a Russian Mi-8 Hip helicopter over the Black Sea in December using an adapted R-73 (AA-11 Archer) air-to-air missile fired from a Magura V5 USV, an earlier variant of the Magura V7.
The latest example of these ongoing operations took place around the gas extraction towers in the Black Sea that Russia still holds and has been using as radar, drone signal repeater and general surveillance positions. Over the weekend, Ukrainian drone boats, some armed with FPV drones and machine guns, attacked one of those towers, according to Ukrainian and Russian sources.
'As soon as our specialists land on the tower (and they land specialists, whose qualifications are unique) – the enemy immediately begins to destroy them 'like in a shooting gallery,'' the Russian Romanov_92 Telegram channel wrote on Saturday. 'They shoot from afar with large-caliber machine guns (the [gas extraction tower] is essentially a container and there is nowhere to hide – everything is sewn up), and they also attack with [USVs] with FPV.'
Romanov_92 posted video showing 'one of these Ukrainian Armed Forces [USVs] near the [gas extraction tower] in the FPV carrier version (under the black cover there are four FPVs, the launch principle is similar to how it was used 'on trucks').'
You can see that video in the following posting on X.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine used sea drones with machine guns and FPV against elite Russian units that landed on platforms in the Black Sea, Russian military officials whine
— Malinda
(@TreasChest) June 8, 2025
On the day the gas extraction tower attack was taking place, Budanov talked to TWZ about GUR's drone boat operations and the future of its fleet. The following questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: We've talked about your drone boat campaign before. Can you talk about any new developments?
A: Currently in the Black Sea, the enemy is using exclusively aviation and three, sometimes four, armored boats and nothing else. And I'm not taking into consideration [the rate of ships] from the Novorossiysk Naval Base to conduct shelling and go back. The fleet is fully blocked. And that thing that Russians previously joked about, that Ukraine has no fleet, at least only a few boats. Now they are faced with the same thing.
So nominally, Russians have a fleet, but actually in the sea, you can see three and sometimes four armored boats. And these boats are used to deliver a duty shift to areas where they still have some occupied sea gas extraction towers, and also to evacuate personnel from these towers. And also a few times they tried to attack gas extraction towers, which are under our control, with FPV drones. The control of the Russian Federation, in the Black Sea is the use of aviation. But we are trying to counter this also.
Q: How?
A: Our Magura V7 recently downed aircraft, I think you know.
(You can see that engagement in the video below.)
World first: On May 2, 2025, the @DI_Ukraine special operations unit, in coordination with the Security Service of Ukraine and Defence Forces of Ukraine, eliminated a russian Su-30 fighter jet in the Black Sea.
— Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) May 3, 2025
And yesterday [Friday, June 6], our Magura V7 attacked two Russian fighters in the Black Sea. So one of them was able to make a maneuver and to withdraw. And the second one we are currently [trying to find out if we damaged] it, or it was also withdrawn. Now we are trying to understand.
Q: What kind of jets and what did the Magura's use to shoot at them?
A: Yesterday, it was against two Su-30s.
Q: What did they use to shoot at them?
A: The missiles are the same [as the last time]. AIM-9X. The first aircraft we were not capable to damage or engage with, it was able to shoot flares and withdraw. And concerning the second jet, we are trying to understand, because we've heard on the radio that the pilot of this jet said that 'I'm being attacked' and then made a maneuver. But taking into account that it was the second missile from Magura and Magura started to withdraw, we don't know if the second jet was engaged or not. Right now we are trying to understand if this jet was down in the sea or not, because there was no communication with this aircraft anymore, but before we find any evidence of the destruction of this aircraft, I cannot tell you anything more.
Q: Why use the AIM-9X instead of the R-73? What advantage does the Sidewinder have?
A: The AIM-9x missile demonstrated better characteristics than the R-73 despite the fact that they have similar technical characteristics.
We going to break away form the interview for a moment to address this discrepancy. From the first time we saw this configuration, we questioned why the AIM-9M would be used, considering its small field of view for locking on targets. The AIM-9X makes much more sense.
The AIM-9Ms on the Magura-7 are loaded on aircraft-style launch rails that would be elevated before launch, but do not appear to provide any lateral traverse. This is significant since, as TWZ has pointed out previously, the M variant of the Sidewinder lacks the high-off-boresight (HOBS) capabilities of the aforementioned R-73.
Missiles with HOBS engagement capability feature articulating seekers that make it easier for them to lock onto dynamic targets when loaded on a fixed launch rail. As such, the AIM-9M-armed Magura-7 looks as if it would have to be physically pointed relatively precisely in the direction and vertical angle of the target before launch. Meeting the parameters for a successful intercept from this platform could be very challenging, especially with the added factor of the drone boat bouncing up and down on the waves. Getting the targeted aircraft at the right height and distance to enter into the seeker's more limited viewing envelope wouldn't be that easy and it may require some amount of luck, at least based on the general launcher configuration we are seeing.
The use of the AIM-9L/M was supported via evidence as it was seen in the only photos of this configuration of the drone boat. We continued to question the efficacy of this arrangement. Now we know that this was indeed not the case, and the AIM-9X was actually being employed. The AIM-9L/Ms were likely used for testing and for exhibition purposes.
Now back to the interview.
Q: Any other developments on the Magura line, in terms of drone launching, in terms of missiles, in terms of any other kind of offensive capabilities like machine guns?
A: We already have Maguras with machine guns, and they are already working. And basically yesterday, a Magura with machine guns covered the operation of the Magura with missiles.
Q: Can you provide more detail about the role of the Magura V7 with machine guns?
A: Its task is to avoid the advance of, if such will happen, the advance of the enemy boats to the Maguras with missiles. Because we are having business with the four boats. That's why it's quite a good task for Magura.
Q: How did your Magura V7s with FPV drones perform in the attack on the Black Sea gas extraction towers?
A: We used it, but it did not have a good effect. The Russians used boats with FPV drones against us.
Q: The Magura V7 is the seventh generation of your Magura line. Is there a Magura V8 on the way?
A: Not yet. They do not exist, but it will be the next step.
Q: What will it do?
A: We will try to improve the command and control system, and we'll try to increase the speed of the drone. And besides, currently, we are working on the surface drone for signals intelligence.
Q: Do you have underwater drones that you are working with or are under development?
A: It's not with the underwater drones. It's not something that can be used, and we have different projects, but currently we're working on them. But it's not a drone that can be massively produced at the moment. They have a lot of problems.
Q: What kind of problems?
A: First of all, the command and control system.
Ukraine's drone boat campaign and the advancements made by GUR are now serving as a roadmap for how relatively inexpensive uncrewed surface vessels can present credible threats to much larger, far costlier warships. The success of these operations are being watched by naval forces all around the world.
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