Magura V5 In Action: How Many Russian Ships The Ukrainian Drone Has Already Destroyed

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are successfully destroying the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

That night, Magura V5 surface drones were able to send another Russian ship to the bottom. This time it is the Sergey Kotov. And this is far from the only target successfully hit with the use of these drones. Magura has a Russian large landing ship, patrol boats and missile boats on its record.

How many Russian ships have already been sunk by this Ukrainian drone — the editorial office of RBC-Ukraine. has calculated.

History of creation

Back in November 2022, the Ukrainian government announced the development of a Ukrainian surface combat drone with a range of about 800 km.

It is noteworthy that the first department in Ukraine that became interested in the development of unmanned surface vehicles was the SSU. The Ukrainian Security Service initially collaborated with a private company to develop its first generation drones, but then began development on its own and created the Sea Baby. The services of the original drone developer were used by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, which ultimately led to the appearance of Magura.

This drone was first presented at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey, which was held from July 25 to 28, 2023.

And a day later, on July 29, 2023, a CNN report was released, which confirmed that a kamikaze boat of the Magura V5 type already exists not only as an exhibition model, but also as a system completely ready for use.

Characteristics

Magura V5 (Maritime Autonomous Guard Unmanned Robotic Apparatus) V-type; also “Magura”) is a Ukrainian multi-purpose surface drone developed for the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

This drone can perform surveillance, reconnaissance, patrol, search and rescue, mine warfare, maritime security, but is primarily known for its strike role. According to open sources, the following characteristics are known:

— Length: 5,500 mm or 5.5 m.

— Width: 1,500 mm or 1.5 m.

— Weight: 1,000 kg.

— Payload: 320 kg.

— Operational radius: up to 400 km.

— Range: up to 800 km.

— Autonomy: up to 60 hours.

— Cruising speed: 41 km/h.

— Maximum speed: 78 km/h.

Navigation methods: automatic GNSS, inertial, visual.

Video transmission: up to three HD video streams.

The hydrodynamic body and sleek profile allows the drone to move stealthily and maneuver, making it easy to launch from any remote location. At the same time, there is another advantage of Magura. Their descent does not require complex infrastructure. The control panel for this marine drone looks quite compact, no larger in plane than a modern laptop.

At the same time, servicing the drone requires only a few people, including the operator, and does not take up much space. At the same time, special platforms (blinds) are not required to launch the boat, although its weight is approximately 1 ton.

What targets have Magura V5 drones already hit?

The first target of these surface power steering drones was the Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs. On May 24, 2023, it was successfully attacked by three drones 140 km northeast of the Bosphorus Strait. This is a fairly significant loss, given the presence of only three such boats of Project 1241.1 in the Russian Black Sea Fleet and weapons.

In addition, on the night of February 1, 2024, six Magura V5 units attacked the Russian missile boat Ivanovets. It sank, killing all crew members (about 40 people). As the representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Andriy Yusov noted then, there were only three such boats in Russia.

This year, on February 14, the large landing ship Caesar Kunikov was sunk near Alupka. A successful mission to destroy this large landing ship was carried out by special forces of Group 13 of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, using Magura V5 drones. It should be noted that this large landing ship was one of the newest Russian ships.

And finally, the Russian Project 22160 patrol ship Sergei Kotov.

Last September, Ukrainian fighters managed to damage this corvette. However, this night, Magura V5 drones finally destroyed one of the youngest such ships of the enemy fleet near the Kerch Strait. In addition, the enemy suffered losses among personnel, which are being clarified.