MAGURA V5 maritime drones will be equipped with air defense capabilities to shoot down ground, water and air targets of the Russian Federation
MAGURA V5 maritime drones will also hunt down Russian air targets thanks to the installation of air defense equipment on the unmanned platform. For example, the drones will be equipped with various modules for hitting different types of targets: ground, water, and air. This is stated in an article by Ukrainska Pravda.
The DIU noted that further plans include the deployment of air defense and possibly other weapons systems on drones.
“Experts are currently working on installing air defense equipment on the unmanned platform. I’m not a technician, but I understand that this is a rather difficult task. After all, you need means of detecting a target, capturing an air object, a means of destruction – and all this needs to be placed on a fairly small platform. This is not an easy task from a technical point of view, but it is real,” says Kyrylo Budanov, the head of intelligence.
One of the engineers explains that the impact of shock waves and pressure changes create significant stresses on the drone’s structure, posing a significant technical challenge. Developing a stabilizer that can handle such fluctuations is an extremely difficult task. Without a stable platform, no strike system will be able to function correctly, as problems will arise at the stage of launching and firing.
Active work is underway in this area, and soon the drones will be able to be equipped with various modules to hit different types of targets: ground, water, and air. In addition, the drones themselves promise to become more invisible, including the ability to be submerged underwater for a certain period of time.
However, no matter how successful Maguras or other unmanned systems become, they are not capable of conquering territory instead of people, as General Budanov summarizes.
What you need to know about MAGURA V5
MAGURA V5 is a Ukrainian multi-purpose surface unmanned aerial vehicle capable of performing various tasks: surveillance, reconnaissance, patrolling, search and rescue operations, mine countermeasures and other combat missions.
Technical characteristics
- Length: 5.5 m;
- Total weight: up to 1000 kg
- Payload: 320 kg
- Combat range: up to 400 km
- Range: up to 800 km
- Autonomy: up to 60 hours
- Combat load: up to 200 kg
- Cruising speed: 41 km/h
- Top speed: 78 km/h
In addition to the drone itself, which is equipped with an autopilot system, video subsystems, including night vision, redundant communication modules, and a warhead, the complex includes a ground-based autonomous control station, a transportation and storage system, and a data center.
What is known about the successful use of Magura drones
In May 2023, Magura V5 drone operators detected their first significant target, the Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs. The crew of the enemy vessel attempted to repel the attack.
After a successful attack on the Ivan Khurs, Ukrainian military intelligence operators were able to hit the patrol ship Serhiy Kotov, destroy two fast landing craft Akula and Serna, the missile ship Ivanovets and the large landing ship Caesar Kunikov.
As reported on December 20, the NYT showed which versions of Magura drones the Ukrainian Armed Forces have. According to experts, Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea is over, as the Russian fleet was forced to leave the bays of the occupied Crimean peninsula.
