Russian forces are searching Ukrainian uncrewed floor vessels at sea and from the air. In the meantime, US and European actors are scrambling to get their palms on the know-how, as evidenced by discussions in places of work, at exhibitions and through trials.
The drive behind this success are Ukrainian-made unmanned Magura boats – inconspicuous, quick, manoeuvrable and lethal to the enemy. In simply two years, they’ve rewritten the foundations of contemporary naval warfare.
The looks of those vessels took the Russian Black Sea Fleet unexpectedly. Russia may hardly have imagined that Ukraine, with nearly no ships of its personal, may push its forces from Zmiinyi (Snake) Island and Odesa all the best way to Novorossiysk. Even there, Russian warships are struggling relentless assaults.
The success of every mission rests with engineers and army personnel who’ve honed their abilities to a degree that allows them to inflict the heaviest losses on the Russians. These specialists have been assembled in "Group 13", a specialised unit inside the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU).
The particular unit is led by an officer who goes by the alias "13". 13's particular forces unit has destroyed two dozen Russian property at sea and within the air.
Just lately, DIU showcased its modernised naval drones to Ukrainian and international journalists. 13 outlined the fight historical past and the way techniques for deploying Magura drones have developed over the previous two years.
Ukrainska Pravda attended the briefing and highlighted the important thing factors from the commander's account.
The Magura household adapts to new duties
These kamikaze marine drones have been first used within the western Black Sea, the place the Ukrainian particular forces struck Russia's reconnaissance ship, Ivan Khurs. Strikes on Russian warships have regularly pushed eastward since then.
In February 2024, Group 13 ambushed and sank the Russian missile boat Ivanovets because it patrolled the waters of Donuzlav, Crimea's deepest lake.
In simply 13 days, the particular forces destroyed the massive touchdown ship Tsezar Kunikov close to Alupka. 13 recollects that the unit had a very completely different goal that night time, however new intelligence revealed a Russian ship shifting proper right into a flock of Magura drones. Operators rapidly redirected the drones, and the Tsezar Kunikov got here inside vary of the Ukrainian boats by itself.
13 stated that some of the emotional operations of the struggle was the destruction of the corvette Sergei Kotov within the Kerch Strait in early March 2024. The Russian ship had been manoeuvring between civilian vessels in an try and evade pursuit. This proved futile, as 5 kamikaze boats first immobilised the corvette after which sank it.
Over its few years of use, the Magura V5 has undergone quite a few enhancements. Group 13's commander stated this mannequin has been completely examined and is nearly fail-safe for particular forces operations.
Group 13 specialists analyse every goal intimately earlier than missions. Modular design permits the unmanned boats to be quickly tailored for any job.
The market value of a Magura V5 boat is round US$250,000. 13 emphasises, nevertheless, that his unit acquires them at a considerably decrease price.
In 2024, Russian forces started utilizing helicopters and warplanes to detect, observe, and destroy maritime drones. This revolutionised the struggle in opposition to the unmanned vessels at sea and disrupted Ukrainian missions.
Group 13 specialists have been then tasked not solely with destroying ships but additionally with searching down Russian plane.
To counter the aerial menace, the unit developed techniques utilizing swarms of multi-purpose drones. Ukrainian engineers mounted a machine-gun turret on a catamaran-style hull, creating the Magura V6 to destroy helicopters. The hull design enhances stabilisation for the fight module and permits correct short-burst fireplace.
Shortly after, engineers started integrating air-to-air missiles, giving rise to a drone armed with R-73 missiles. On 31 December 2024, naval drones outfitted with these missiles shot down two Mi-8 helicopters and broken a 3rd.
In Might, the brand new Magura V7 drone, armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, made its sea debut, taking pictures down two Russian Su-30 fighters.
"At first, helicopters posed a essential menace and made our work troublesome", stated 13. "However to counter them, boats armed with turrets and missiles have been developed. After that, the enemy stopped utilizing helicopters in opposition to us altogether, realising they’d develop into straightforward targets for our missiles.
We set the situations of engagement, forcing them to adapt and deploy plane as a substitute. However these too proved unsuccessful."
13 emphasises that right now, Magura is a flexible platform, able to extra than simply fight. For instance, it might probably function the idea for boats designed to extinguish fires in ports or deal with burning ships within the roadstead.
How are the Russians responding?
The best option to detect uncrewed floor vessels is from the air. To realize this, Russian forces are deploying almost all their aviation platforms in Crimea. Transport planes, maritime plane and fighter jets are actively trying to find drones, however pilots are actually hesitant to fly shut sufficient to interact them.
"In the present day, planes now not strategy our boats immediately as a result of they know there's a critical danger of being shot down," 13 stated. "Typically they try strikes from a distance, however normally, bombs and missiles miss their targets. They usually run out of ammunition and return to base empty-handed."
As an alternative choice to manned aviation, Russian forces have begun deploying reconnaissance UAVs and first-person view drones. 13 describes this as an efficient measure, however one that’s not posing a essential menace to the Ukrainian army.
Brothers-in-arms from "Prymary" (Phantoms), one other DIU unit, contribute considerably to the success of Group 13's missions. Though every unit plans its operations independently, Prymary's systematic raids on Crimean airfields destroy Be-12 naval plane, An-26 transport planes and fighter jets, additional limiting Russian makes an attempt to trace the deployment and numbers of uncrewed floor vessels.
In early December, Prymary destroyed a Russian Orion reconnaissance drone that had been patrolling the Black Sea.
The uncrewed vessels also can help Prymary operatives in putting floor targets. At the least two fashions of unmanned floor vessels (USVs) able to carrying quadcopters and fixed-wing UAVs are documented in Sea Battle: The Age of Drones, a movie by Ukrainian serviceman and journalist Artem Shevchenko.
Radars can detect Magura, however solely when it's too late
Their small measurement and smooth design make Magura drones extraordinarily exhausting to detect with ship or ground-based radars.
13 emphasises that shipborne radar methods sometimes detect drones just a few kilometres away. From that second on, the clock begins ticking for Russian sailors.
Floor-based radars additionally lack adequate sensitivity, forcing Russian forces to depend on passive defence methods at their bases. Chief amongst these are growth obstacles – floats fitted with chains and nets positioned throughout bay entrances to dam entry. Drone operators, nevertheless, have realized to beat such obstacles: particular forces establish the weakest factors in these obstacles and soar over them at pace.
Typically, the Russians ship barges and outdated ships out to sea as a part of their passive defence methods. If the operator determines {that a} drone can not move by way of such a barrier, they command the primary drone within the attacking group to detonate, thereby clearing a path for the others.
Probably the most putting examples of bypassing bodily obstacles got here throughout a Black Sea operation in temporarily-occupied Crimea, the place DIU drones leapt over the buoy barrier in Vuzka Bay earlier than focusing on and destroying a number of Russian speedboats on the berths.
"The Russians use digital warfare to guard their amenities, however we’re growing countermeasures", stated 13. "We analyse every facility to evaluate the threats and equip the drone for the precise job accordingly."
Requested by the journalists whether or not the Russians are utilizing unmanned boats, 13 stated they’ve carried out a number of profitable operations. Nonetheless, marine drones will not be widespread amongst Russian forces, as it’s far harder for them to search out appropriate targets.
Group 13 is already coping with an identical problem. With nearly no Russian warships at sea, the primary forces of the Black Sea Fleet have been confined to Novorossiysk or the Sea of Azov, areas which are troublesome to succeed in. In consequence, DIU is now specializing in different key Russian targets and limiting its fleet's capacity to enterprise far into the ocean.
"Throughout one in every of our current assaults on Novorossiysk, the Russians shot up a bunch of their very own buildings in an try and destroy our boats. For us, this reveals that the lack of new ships within the Black Sea is extremely essential for them", stated 13.
13 famous {that a} new stage of naval fight is imminent: clashes between unmanned boats outfitted with several types of weapons. Ukrainian engineers and Group 13 operators are already gearing up for it.
Translation: Artem Yakymyshyn
Modifying: Shoël Stadlen
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