Latest news with #Magura-7s
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Our Best Look Yet At Ukraine's AIM-9 Sidewinder-Toting Magura-7 Drone Boat
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) released new video and details about the Magura-7 uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) the spy agency claims it used to down two Russian Su-30 Flanker multirole fighters. The revelations came during a ceremony to introduce a new stamp honoring Ukraine's USV campaign that offered our best view yet of the Magura-7 in various configurations. GUR commander 'Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, and a team of special service specialists publicly presented the Magura series of naval strike drones for the first time,' GUR stated on Telegram Thursday. The video shows a Magura-7 armed with two live AIM-9M Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles for use as surface-to-air interceptors. TWZ was the first to report on the claimed use of AIM-9-toting Magura-7s to shoot down a pair of Flankers flying over the Black Sea, in an exclusive interview with Budanov, which you can read here. That engagement marked the first time a drone boat destroyed a combat jet. A previous image that emerged of the Magura-7 armed with two Sidewinder was much lower quality which you can see below. The boat displayed by GUR at the ceremony also features the missiles loaded on aircraft-style launch rails that would be elevated at an upward angle before launch, but they 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 infrared-guided R-73 (AA-11 Archer) short-range air-to-air missile. In December, GUR claimed it downed a Russian Mi-8 Hip helicopter fired from a Magura V5 USV operated by GUR's Group 13 unit. From our most recent coverage of the Magura-7: '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 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.' In addition to displaying a Magura-7 with two Sidewinders, GUR also showed off for the first time one of the USVs, also known as drone boats, equipped with a machine gun turret. In addition to displaying the Magura-7s, the GUR video also offered new details about these drone boats, answering questions we previously raised. As we recently surmised, it is roughly 23.5 feet long. In addition, it has a range of up to 540 nautical miles and can operate autonomously for at least 48 hours and up to seven days with a generator. Weighing more than 2,800 pounds unloaded and nearly 7,500 pounds loaded, it can carry a 1,433-pound payload. The 270 hp diesel engine can generate a top speed of 39 knots and a cruising speed of 23 knots, which it can do up to Sea State 3. Under the Beaufort Scale, that means a 'gentle breeze' of up to 10 knots and maximum wave heights of three feet. It has multiple video feeds for operators to exploit, with day/night gyro-stabilized turret — likely for general surveillance and target acquisition cueing — and two staring video systems. Its product card also listed 'acoustic environment monitoring systems.' It is controlled remotely with an encrypted satellite link, according to the card. We spotted no less than three planar satellite antenna's atop the boat's hull in previous imagery. The newly revealed specifications confirm our previous observation that the Magura-7 is larger than the Magura-5 with a greater range. The Magura-5 has a reported length of 18 feet and has a top speed of 42 knots, a cruising speed of 22 knots, and a range of 450 nautical miles. During the stamp ceremony, the commander of Group 13, GUR's drone boat unit, talked about how the campaign against Russia developed. 'It was a challenge for us to start our work from scratch,' he said, said the commander, identified only by his callsign, Thirteenth. 'Previously, there was no such experience anywhere, there was no place to draw information. But two years ago, we first hit the Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs. And today we can confidently say that the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Group 13, has displaced the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation to their bases. They are constrained in their actions, they do not perform any tasks as intended.' You can watch Ukraine's video of that encounter below. When the russian reconnaissance ship "Ivan Khurs" met a Ukrainian a perfect match! — Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 25, 2023 During 'two years of combat use of various modifications of the Magura drone, the masters of military intelligence hit a total of 17 sea and air targets of the aggressor state of Russia,' Thirteenth claimed, adding that '15 of which were completely destroyed.' In addition to the aforementioned Flankers and Mi-8, that list includes 'large ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet – Sergey Kotov, Ivanovets, Tsezar Kunikov and other vessels. The damage inflicted on the enemy is estimated at more than half a billion dollars.' The War Zone cannot independently verify these claims, but there is no doubt that Ukraine's drone boats have done significant damage to Russian forces. Russian military correspondents posted the following video of the Tsezar Kunikov engagement, which took place in March 2024. Kremlin military correspondents have published a video of an alleged Ukrainian naval drone attack on the Big Landing Ship "Tsezar Kunikov" on February 14In the video, armed men try to hit surface targets with firearms, then an explosion is heard and a fire — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 6, 2024 Ukrainian military expert Mykhailo Samus suggested that 'the evolution and combat successes of drones in the Black Sea waters are causing a revision of naval doctrines in other countries of the world.' 'It is obvious,' he surmised, 'that the classic large-tonnage fleet of the 20th century is losing to the latest unmanned vehicles. Thanks to the 'Maguras' and other naval drones, a doctrinal shift has already taken place.' Drone boats, he added, are 'a modern fleet of the 21st century. I am convinced that right now, during a large-scale war, Ukraine and the GUR of the Ministry of Defense as a leader in this regard have really made a revolution…Patrolling the sea area, controlling sea communications, destroying air and sea targets… All this is already a reality. This is a new doctrine that has become a reality in Ukraine.' The success of Ukraine's USV program is not lost on the U.S. Navy. GUR's drone boat campaign was a major topic of conversation earlier this month at the (Special Operations Forces) SOF Week conference held earlier this month in Tampa. Several drone boats, like the one in the video below, were displayed for SOF leaders. 'We've learned a lot from international partners and current events,' Navy Cmdr. Michael Linn said during a PEO Maritime panel at the conference. 'So I want to make sure that we're prioritizing rapid, iterative improvements and adaptations that are critical to success. You know, everyone likely saw the news out of Ukraine … that a Magura 7 USV shot down an SU-30 fighter with a SAM. That's another major milestone coming out of [Ukraine].' It remains unclear how many Magura-7s GUR is operating, how many are fitted with AIM-9s or machine guns or the exact role anticipated for the machine gun-equipped variants. 'Sorry, but that information is classified,' Budanov told us. Contact the author: howard@
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Yahoo
AIM-9 Sidewinder-Armed Ukrainian Drone Boat: What We Know
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) has officially shared the first picture of a Magura-7 drone boat armed with a pair of AIM-9M Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles for use as surface-to-air interceptors. This also appears to be the first look at the Magura-7 in any configuration. TWZ was the first to report on the claimed use of AIM-9-toting Magura-7s to shoot down a pair of Russian Su-30 Flanker fighters flying over the Black Sea in an exclusive interview with GUR head Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov that you can read here. GUR included the picture of the surface-to-air configured Magura-7 (also sometimes written Magura V7) in recent social media posts, including on X and Facebook, which also highlighted Budanov's interview with TWZ's Howard Altman. Naval News first published the picture on Sunday. How many Magura-7s GUR has at present is unknown. In an exclusive interview with Howard Altman for The War Zone, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, revealed new details about the Black Sea's May 2, 2025 operation. — Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) May 5, 2025 The picture notably shows the AIM-9s with protective caps over their seekers. The caps may be left in place to help keep the seekers protected from the elements, but some mechanism would then be required to remotely remove them before launch. The possibility has also been raised that the caps could point to the image showing an initial test of the platform, which is also very possible. The Magura-7 in the picture we now have has at least three rectangular satellite communications antennas, one at the bow end and two toward the stern, as well as various other fairings that could contain additional sensors or other equipment. Ukrainian uncrewed surface vessels (USV) have typically been observed with a mix of communications antennas and electro-optical and/or infrared cameras to help with navigation and targeting. When engaging aerial threats with AIM-9Ms, the Magura-7 would require sensors capable of scanning the skies to provide initial cueing for the missiles. GUR released the video below, which it says shows the view from an infrared camera during one of the recent claimed Su-30 shootdowns, but a sensor of this kind is not plainly visible in the image we now have in hand. One possibility is that it could be absent in the picture for operational security reasons. And is that it was not mounted during tests, if the picture shown was taken early in the development of this drone boat-missile combination. GUR has already fielded another type of drone boat armed with Soviet-era R-73 air-to-air missiles for use in the anti-air role that uses an infrared camera for target acquisition and cuing, as seen in the video below. This could be the same sensor used in conjunction with the AIM-9M on the Magura-7. Infrared cameras are also a common feature on other improvised air defense systems in service in Ukraine and elsewhere globally that use repurposed infrared-guided air-to-air missiles as surface-to-air interceptors. 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 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. It is worth pointing out here that the United States developed ground-based and naval air defense systems called Chaparral and Sea Chaparral during the Cold War that were armed with derivatives of fixed-seeker AIM-9 variants called MIM-72s. Both of those systems featured turreted launchers to help with target acquisition and cuing. When it comes to the Magura-7 itself, based on the AIM-9M's length of just over nine feet (2.85 meters), it looks to be around 23 to 26 feet (seven to eight meters) long. This would make it distinctly larger than the Magura-5 (or Magura V5) drone boat also in GUR service, which has a reported length of 18 feet (5.5 meters). How the Magura-7 performance compares to the Magura-5, which reportedly has a top speed of 42 knots, a cruising speed of 22 knots, and a range of 450 nautical miles, is unknown. It is not known whether Magura-7s exist in any other configurations, including as kamikaze drone boats. The Magura-5 was originally developed for kamikaze attacks, but has also been used as the aforementioned launch platform for adapted R-73 air-to-air missiles in the surface-to-air role. In December, GUR also claimed to have shot down a Russian Mi-8 Hip-series helicopter with a drone boat-launched R-73. Magura-5s may also be configured to launch first-person-view (FPV) type kamikaze drones for attacks ashore. For years now, Ukraine has been using a steadily growing array of uncrewed surface vessels (USV) configured as kamikaze drone boats and armed with other weapons against Russian warships, as well as bridges and coastal infrastructure. The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU, also known by its Ukrainian abbreviation SBU) has also fielded a version of its Sea Baby series of USVs armed with a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun in a remote weapon station, which it claims it has used to engage Russian combat jets and helicopters, as well as patrol boats, as seen in the video below. Though it is unclear how wide a capability AIM-9M-armed Magura-7s might be at present, they do represent a new threat to fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters operating over and around the Black Sea that Russian forces now have to take into account. For fast jets, the new anti-air drone boats would have to first catch the aircraft at lower altitudes. For context, Chaparral/Sea Chaparral's maximum engagement altitude is reportedly around 10,000 feet. At the same time, as Ukrainian drone boat capabilities have grown, Russian fighters and helicopters have been increasingly employed on counter-USV missions involving direct attacks using guns and other unguided munitions, which require flying at lower altitudes. USVs armed with AIM-9Ms (and R-73s) could leverage this dynamic to bait enemies into range. The new anti-air drone boats offer a useful addition to Ukraine's air defense arsenal overall, and one that opens up a use for an additional source of interceptors. Ukraine was previously known to have received an unknown number of AIM-9Ms from the United States and potentially other foreign partners, but this is the first confirmed instance of those missiles being utilized in any way. The Sidewinders could also be used as part of Ukraine's array of so-called FrankenSAM ground-based air defense systems or as armament for its new F-16 Viper fighters. Ukrainian forces have already publicly fielded a number of FrankenSAM systems that use R-73 air-to-air missiles as their interceptors. With GUR having now officially released a picture of an AIM-9M-toting Magura-7 after having disclosed its existence to TWZ, more details about the drone boat may now begin to emerge. Contact the author: joe@
