"A serious threat even to high-speed aircraft." What is known about the naval drone of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which hit the Su-30 fighter?

Budanov: Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down two Su-30 Flanker fighters using AIM-9 Sidewinder

The Ukrainian military shot down two Su-30 Flanker multirole fighters. This was stated by the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of Ukraine Kirill Budanov (included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring). According to him, AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles were fired at the planes. The launch was carried out from Magura-7 unmanned boats.

What is known about the Ukrainian naval drone that hit the Su-30?

The Magura V7 used by Ukraine against Russian fighter jets is a larger and more advanced version of the Magura V5 naval drone. Details about the new Ukrainian unmanned boat were revealed by the American magazine The Aviationist.

According to the publication, the length of the V7 is about eight meters. At the same time, the drone "appears to be optimized for harsher marine conditions and is equipped with a much more advanced payload system than earlier models." It also doesn't have an explosive charge on its nose, like kamikaze drones. In addition, the V7 is equipped with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, unlike the previous model equipped with R-73 missiles.

It is specified that the V7 is capable of hitting aerial targets at a range of up to ten kilometers. However, the author noted, this is enough to hit several modern aircraft.

The publication believes that this indicates Ukraine's rapidly growing capabilities, both technical and operational, and is becoming another complication for the Russian air force.

The Su-30SM multirole fighter aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet.
Source: © RIA Novosti / Vitaly Timkiv

Kiev called the strike on the Su-30 from the sea a historic moment.

According to the head of the GUR, Ukraine for the first time hit Russian Su-30 Flanker fighters with the help of unmanned boats. In this regard, Budanov called the incident a historical moment.

The head of the Ukrainian department clarified that the incident occurred on Friday, May 2, in the Black Sea. A video has spread on social media showing the downing of one Flanker. According to Budanov, the second collision was not recorded using photos or videos.

Russian sailors rescued the crew of a downed fighter jet

The pilots of the downed Russian fighter jet managed to eject before the Su-30 crashed. Civilian sailors came to their aid .

According to available information, the military pilots were about 50 kilometers from the coast when they had to leave the plane. After flooding, they were picked up by a nearby cargo ship, after which they were brought alive to the shore.

It is noteworthy that the evacuation of the pilots was carried out under the close supervision of Ukrainian naval drones — they circled for about an hour in the area of military flooding, but did not attack a civilian vessel.