The so-called russian Ministry of Defense, in addition to intimidating by conducting exercises with tactical nuclear weapons, on May 6 managed to boast of destroying a naval drone equipped with R-73 missiles.
The video captures the enemy firing from the Ka-29, ultimately shooting down the drone and seemingly hitting the missile, which detonates. All of this is captured from water level, possibly from a ship, boat, or shore.
Read more: Ukraine's Magura Drone Attack in Vuzka Bay is More Than Just a Sunken Vessel but a Coordinated Strike
Also captured on footage from the russian helicopter is how the drone itself looks. In particular, it is equipped with two launchers. The presence of additional guidance and surveillance systems is not recorded. It should be noted that the R-73 is a missile with an infrared homing head, which has a field of view of 40 degrees for the RMD1 version and 60 degrees for the RMD2 version.
And despite the fact that we are talking about a naval drone, the very presence in the arsenal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces of a refined solution with R-73 air-to-air missiles, converted into anti-aircraft ones, deserves attention. Because we are talking about a makeshift SAM system, which can be installed not only on a naval drone but also on a ground-based platform.
In particular, the decision to install the R-73 on ground-based systems is not unique. They were used during the Yugoslav times in the Pracka series SAMs. India has developed the SAMAR-1 SAM system, which utilizes the R-73 missiles without additional booster stages.
Thus, it is highly probable that similar systems are already in the possession of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain the choice of this particular missile and its system for the maritime drone, which is intended for autonomous operation and requires the installation of reliable and well-developed systems. Ultimately, the emergence of such drones is both highly anticipated and necessary.
Recall that Defense Express wrote about the Magura V5 naval drone: features and specifications.
Read more: Ukraine Neutralizes russian Fast Attack Craft with the Magura V5 Drone (Video)
