This Saturday, Ukraine announced that it had shot down, for the first time in the world, two SU-30 hunters thanks to its new naval drone. We now know more about this formidable weapon.
The Ukrainian military intelligence services (GUR) said, this Saturday, May 3, having shot down a Russian fighting aircraft, claiming a world first since this plane was hit by a missile launched from a naval drone. The next day, the loss of a second Russian fighter plane was announced.
These are the two first hunting planes in history to be killed by an unmanned surface drone. An attack made by a hitherto unprecedented drone since it is the Magura V7 model, larger than its little brother Magura V5. This is the first time that the V7 variant has been revealed to the public.
According to the specialized site, Naval News, the Magura V7 is an enlarged version of Magura V5, the basic model used to hit enemy ships with an explosive load. It is about 8 meters long, against 5.5 meters for the V5. It is, moreover, equipped with American Air-Air Aim-9 Sidewinder missiles.
The Magura V7 shares lines similar to the V5 version, but its bow is reshaped. This characteristic suggests better sea holding, useful for winter operations. It is equipped with several communication antennas and sensors.
Difficult to detect
Magura-V5 drones made a lot of talk about them during the Russian fleet attacks during the year 2024, especially in Crimea. Difficult to detect, these drones can carry a load of 320 kg of explosives and have an autonomous navigation system based on artificial intelligence algorithms.
In recent months, these V5s have been equipped with short -range missiles. With the V7 version, Ukraine goes up a gear and stands out as a leader in the naval war delivered to Russia.
Ukraine had already killed an airplane with a drone. On December 31, the GUR announced the destruction of a Mil mi-8 par a Magura V5. From now on, these are the combat aircraft that Magura V7 can reach as was the case on May 2, 2025.
Russia did not comment on the loss of its Su-30 but blogger Rybar, close to the Kremlin, did it. He specified that “the pilots were ejected and were recovered by civilian sailors. Both are alive, and too bad for the plane”.
According to the specialized site The War Zone, the Ukrainian military intelligence leader, General Kyrylo Boudanov, said that another Russian SU-30 had been shot down by a Magura V7, armed with Aim-9 Sidewinder Air-Air missiles. The crew of this second device would not have survived.
