Ukraine's drone revolution forces Russian retreat from Black Sea
Ukraine has become a global leader in developing unmanned systems, particularly advanced maritime systems. To this day, the Russians have not found an effective way to combat drones, which have forced their ships to retreat from the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian fleet entered the war almost completely defenceless. On the first day of the war, the flagship, the over 30-year-old frigate "Hetman Sahaydachny," stationed in a dock in Mykolaiv, was scuttled by the Ukrainians themselves. They feared that the vessel would fall into Russian hands, leaving them with only small patrol boats: the outdated anti-submarine corvette "Pryluky," three former Island-class U.S. Coast Guard cutters, and Gyurza-M-type riverine vessels.
It's no wonder the Russian fleet ruled the Black Sea. While waiting for large corvettes of the "Hetman Ivan Mazepa" type, Ukrainians were forced to find ways to offset the aggressor's massive advantage. One solution was unmanned vehicles, a decision that was successful.
Fear of Kyiv's drones
The Security Service of Ukraine collaborated with the private company SP SpetsTechnoExport to develop the first-generation drones. Later, fully independent programmes began, resulting in the creation of Sea Baby unmanned vehicles. This was just the beginning of a successful collaboration between the private sector and the government.
Services of SP SpetsTechnoExport were soon utilised by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, ultimately leading to the creation of the Magura V5. This maritime assault drone, designed for attacks on surface vessels, became Ukraine's most effective unmanned vehicle. It destroyed eight Russian units, including the landing ship "Cesar Kunikov," the patrol vessel "Sergey Kotov," and the missile corvette "Ivanovets."
Ukrainians quickly expanded their unmanned maritime forces. Originally, the 73rd Marine Special Purpose Centre had nautical drones. However, by the end of 2023, the 1st Fleet of Marine Unmanned Vehicles was formed.
Both units operated so effectively that Russians were forced to withdraw ships from Crimea and now limit the use of surface units in the Black Sea. This occurred because their ships could not defend against well-coordinated drone attacks. If only Ukrainian operators didn't make mistakes, the attacks always ended poorly for the Russians.
In videos of successful attacks published by the General Staff, one can see how drones manoeuvre under automatic fire from six-barrel AK-630M 30 mm guns, used specifically for self-defence against fast maritime and aerial targets.
Russian sailors cannot hit targets despite having the Bagira system on board, the most modern fire control system available in the Russian fleet. Nevertheless, they could not destroy the attacking unmanned boats.
It's no surprise that hand-guided large-calibre machine guns MTPU-1 14.5 mm Zhalo have little effectiveness, with some drones being destroyed. That's why Russian ships began to receive helicopter escorts, such as Mil Mi-8/17 or Kamov Ka-29, and fast assault boats Raptor, armed with cannons and machine guns. Russians managed to neutralise a few drones, yet Ukrainians quickly found solutions to counter this.
An attack the world has never seen
Arming unmanned vehicles isn't a novel idea. Maritime unmanned vehicles have been developed over the past three decades, primarily for reconnaissance drones armed with, at most, large-calibre machine guns. Strike drones have also appeared; however, Ukrainians were the first to use them on such a large scale and in combat.
In the second half of 2023, Sea Baby drones equipped with remotely controlled modules with 12.7 mm machine guns and four thermobaric grenade launchers RPW-16 appeared in the Black Sea. Shortly after, photos of the Magura V5 equipped with R-73 anti-aircraft missile launchers on APU-73 aviation rails and Sea Baby with 122 mm projectiles, known from BM-13 Grad systems, were published.
Armed unmanned vehicles began to be utilised mainly in strike teams to protect kamikaze drones. Their aim is to neutralise onboard defence systems, escorting helicopters, and light, fast artillery boats. They are rarely used on their own for so-called sweeping, that is, freely hunting Russian aircraft and smaller maritime units.
On 5th March 2024, the HUR Group 13 special unit sank the Black Sea Fleet patrol ship "Sergey Kotov," escorted by a Ka-29. The attack involved armed versions of drones, which opened fire on the attacked ship, paving the way for strike drones. Two months later, Magura V5 launched R-73 anti-aircraft missiles in the direction of Russian helicopters for the first time, though with unclear success.
The successful attack occurred on 31st December 2024. On that day, Group 13 operators achieved a world first by successfully striking an aerial target with the Magura V5 maritime assault drone equipped with R-73 missiles. Initially, HUR reported that "during an operation near the Tarkhankut Peninsula, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was destroyed, and a second was damaged and barely returned to base." It soon became apparent that the second helicopter was also shot down.
This attack on aerial targets was an unprecedented achievement for Ukrainian designers and engineers. By investing in equipment worth £150,000 to £230,000, Ukrainians can destroy targets costing millions of pounds for helicopters or tens of millions for ships.
Russians are forced to find solutions to neutralise the threat from armed maritime drones, prompting Ukrainians to continue to enhance the weaponry that helps them win the David against Goliath battle at sea.
Sławek Zagórski for Wirtualna Polska
