The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR) has added new capability to its Magura maritime drones by adapting Archer IR air-to-air missiles to give 3-dimensional danger to the robot boats, which now have Russian pilots worried.
The R-73 is a Soviet-made air-to-air missile with an infrared (IR) guidance system, mainly for use by aircraft like the MiG-29 or Su-27, also known under the NATO reporting name AA-11 Archer.
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Ukrainian-made maritime attack drones equipped with such missiles have already been used during combat operations in the Black Sea, and this has become a serious source of fear and risk for Russian warplanes, HUR reports.
“Such developments are effective – Russians are very afraid of them. When they see them, they are even afraid to fly. And the uniqueness is that no one else has anything like it. [...] This weapon has already been installed, and it will give its results," said the commander of the HUR Group 13 special unit.
The Magura is a multi-purpose naval drone developed in Ukraine that has been widely used in attacks on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, mainly by ramming enemy ships loaded with explosives.
Earlier, Ukraine destroyed several Russian ships using Magura drones, including the Caesar Kunikov landing ship, the Sergey Kotov patrol ship, the Serna and Akula fast landing ships, and the Ivanovets Tarantula-class missile corvette.
“The Russian Black Sea Fleet, with the support of aviation and other components, has been putting pressure and trying to create additional threats to Ukraine, our Security and Defense Forces: in particular, threats to amphibious operations,” HUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Fakty Tuzhnya.
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“Naval drones, primarily Magura V5, have become such an asymmetric response that the enemy still cannot catch up with.”
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