The Ukrainian Naval Drones Menacing Russia’s Black Sea Fleet

ANALYSIS – Kyiv is stepping up attacks against Russian warships with the use of domestically produced sea drones, drone boats and uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) which have crippled Moscow’s naval capability in the Black Sea.

Ukraine’s domestically produced, highly agile Magura drones have become the Russian navy’s nemesis. The latest Magura V5 (Version 5), named after a Slavic goddess of war, has 60 hours of battery life and a range of 500 miles so it can easily reach the Crimean peninsula and even the Russian coastline.

It weighs about 2,000 pounds and can allegedly carry up to 700 lbs of payload, some say the payload is 440 lbs. Either way, it is enough to sink a warship.

The craft wouldn’t look out of place in a James Bond movie.

The Magura drone is fast. It can sail up to 50 miles per hour. Thanks to its speed and size – 18-feet long – it’s hard to spot, especially among the waves at night.

The hydrodynamic hull and sleek profile allow the drone to move secretly, making it easy to launch from any remote location.

Magura drones are equipped with advanced GPS and cameras and have a low radar signature that makes them hard to detect. Its low heat signature means it’s almost invisible to thermal cameras.

It also beams live video to operators.

There is another advantage of the Magura. They do not require a complex infrastructure to launch. The control panel of this marine drone looks quite compact, no larger than a modern laptop.

But Magura drone boats aren’t the only ones Ukraine is deploying against the Russian navy. The “Sea Baby,” is capable of carrying 1,900 pounds of explosives, hits a top speed of 56 mph and can cover a distance of 620 miles, according to Ukraine’s State Security Service.

These stealthy drone boats are locally designed and tested, but some components are sourced abroad.

United24, a government crowdfunding group that solicits donations from companies and individuals worldwide, collects the funding. United24 says it is assembling the world’s first drone fleet.

Sea drones are proving difficult to stop, especially when launched as swarms to overwhelm the ship’s defenses.

While each Magura costs about $250,000, and the new model Sea Baby costs around $221,000 — they can destroy a large warship worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the latest reported strike, Ukrainian naval drones attacked the Sergei Kotov patrol ship near the Kerch Strait last week, per Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

By the time the crew of the Kotov saw them, it was too late. Russian sailors opened fire with heavy machine guns, but their ship was hit and destroyed.

According to the BBC, Group-13, a secretive unit of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, was behind the attack on the Kotov attack last week.

The BBC reported that:

Since it was set up last year, the unit says it has sunk five Russian vessels and damaged others. But its commander, who asked us to refer to him by his call sign, Thirteenth, says the Sergey Kotov was the most difficult target so far.

Group-13 had attacked and damaged the ship twice in the past, but only managed to sink it on the third attempt.

The BBC added:

The boat’s remote control looks like one of those specially adapted nuclear briefcases, used by world leaders in Hollywood films to authorise the use of nuclear weapons. There is even a red toggle switch for “manual detonation”, explains Thirteenth.

The drone is controlled from base via a satellite link. “You can control if from any part of the world if you have internet,” says Thirteenth. The Magura V5 has back-up connections in case the main one fails, he adds.

In February, Ukrainian sea drones sank Russia’s Caesar Kunikov amphibious landing ship and Ivanovets missile corvette. So far, the Russian military hasn’t acknowledged any of these losses.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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