Highly maneuverable, low-cost, and battle-proved, these autonomous systems have repelled the once mighty Russian black sea fleet from their temporary base in Sevastopol to their home base in Novorossiysk. They have given Ukraine an asymmetric advantage and strengthened Ukraine's control over its own waters.
In a series of videos published by the Ukrainian Security Services, the drones are seen advancing towards Russian ships before bursting forward at high speed and delivering a 320-kilogram payload.
The Magura v5 was developed and made in Ukraine by the state-owned enterprise Spets Tech Export. The system is developed as an affordable solution that is easy to transport and launch while requiring little manpower during handling and combat operations. They can be operated individually or in swarms. The system is tremendously flexible and can perform a variety of tasks, be that military or civilian. The drones can be used for intelligence gathering, patrolling, search and rescue, marine protection, and combat missions.
According to an article in NYT, a drone pilot under the callsign "Thirteen", argues that sea drones are a new frontier of warfare that is transforming naval warfare — with Ukraine in the vanguard.
