UKRAINE has deployed a new jet-ski sea drone bristling with heat-seeking missiles to shoot down Russian helicopters.
The jerry-rigged drone was filmed by a Kremlin aircraft during a recent Black Sea attack.
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The drone appears designed to escort one-way attack drones which have repeatedly sunk Russian warships and forced Putin’s Black Sea fleet to retreat.
Video emerged of a sea drone armed with an R-73 missile normally used in air-to-air fights between aircraft.
Sea warfare expert H I Sutton said: “This is the first time anything like this has been observed.”
The drone appears to be similar to Ukraine’s Magura V and Sea Baby surface one-way attack boats, which are used by separate branches of Ukraine’s intelligence services.
Pictures showed the uncrewed vessel armed with a single R-73 missile next to a second empty launch rail – suggesting one of the heat-seeking weapons had already been unleashed.
The missiles, known by Nato as Archer, have a range of up to 25 miles and lock onto their targets using infra-red sensors.
Incredible footage from the skirmish showed a Russian Kamov Ka-27 helicopter circling over the drone, attempting to blast it to bits with a canon.
Until now Ukraine’s fleet of sea drones have been almost defenceless to attacks from above.
They approach their targets by stealth and swerve at high speed in the final assault to avoid being shot if detected.
Russia has used drones and choppers to patrol the sea around its warships and Black Sea ports.
H I Sutton said the sea drone was “successfully engaged by helicopters”.
But he said the idea behind the new weapon was “sound” and would force Russia to change tactics.
The missiles were mounted in a fixed position, pointing skywards at about 45 degrees.
The R-73 rockets first entered service some 40 years ago, but remain a formidable weapon.
THE BLACK SEA BATTLE
WEAVING and gliding unseen and unheard through dark waters, Ukraine’s naval drones have become Russia’s greatest menace in the Black Sea.
Without any real functioning navy of its own, Ukraine has managed to wipe out a third of Russia’s once fearsome Black Sea Fleet – including a submarine – and the rest appears to be on the run.
Kyiv’s specially-designed marine drones heavily laden with explosives have been blasting Russian targets, blowing up to £100million vessels out the water and even attacking Putin’s prized bridge to Crimea.
Remotely piloted using GPS and cameras, the lethal semi-submersibles are guided towards their targets and detonate on impact.
And almost every major hit has been perfectly captured on PoV footage onboard, serving up repeated humiliations for the Kremlin.
An SBU general, whose call sign is ‘Hunter’, told The Sun how marine drones have helped turn the tides of the Black Sea battle in Ukraine’s favour.
He said: “At the start of the full-scale invasion, control over the Black Sea gave Russia significant advantages, including a fire control over the Ukrainian coast and the ability to blockade our trade routes.
“That’s why President of Ukraine Voloydmyr Zelensky set us a task – end Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea.”
The general added: “Unmanned surface vehicles have changed the course of naval warfare.”
In a recent statement to The Sun, the head of Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, Vasily Malyuk said: “Let the Russians wait for another ‘clap’.
“We never repeat our operations and if Russia is modifying their defence against our sea drones, we, of course, go one step ahead.
“Everything has its time, you will see everything.”
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At almost 10 foot long, they can reach 2.5 times the speed of sound and cannot be jammed or spoofed by radio waves.
However, Russia still controls the Black Sea air space.
But Sutton said Ukraine’s sea drones had managed to “slip through and score a number of significant hits on Russian warships”.
He added: “The addition of air defences aboard some uncrewed surface vehicles may make them even harder for Russia to counter.”
Britain revealed that Russia had lost “23 vessels of all classes” since Putin unleashed his full scale invasion of Ukraine.
Their losses include a Kilo-class submarine hit with a British Storm Shadow missile on a Crimean port.
It was the first time a Russian submarine had been destroyed in an act of war since the end of World War 2.
On Monday, dramatic footage emerged showing a Ukrainian Magura sea drone dodging enemy fire to destroy Putin’s high-speed “Raptor” boat in the Black Sea.
The POV footage showed the unmanned vessel hitting the 56 foot-long target in Uzkaya Bay in Russian-annexed Crimea in yet another embarrassing blow for Putin.
It comes as The Sun recently spoke to Ukraine’s security service on how its marine drones have changed the tides of the battle for the Black Sea.
In an exclusive interview, an SBU general – who goes by his call sign “Hunter” for security reasons – said far more was still to come.
He also had a fresh warning for Vladimir Putin – that his beloved, £3billion Crimean Bridge “is doomed”.
The spy added that Ukraine’s homegrown fleet of Sea Baby drones are essential to the plot to take the 12-mile monster down.
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