A Ukrainian sea drone missile shot down a Russian helicopter

It was the first time it ever happened

A naval drone equipped with an anti-aircraft missile was used by special forces soldiers to destroy an air target for the first time in naval history according to a report from Ukrainian intelligence.

A Russian Mi-8 was shot down

On December 31st, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine revealed on social media that a Magura V5 unmanned surface vehicle destroyed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter.

Destroyed by Ukraine's Group 13

The secretive Ukrainian special forces unit Group 13 was responsible for destroying the Russian helicopter according to the Ukrainian news outlet Militarnyi.

A sea drone used an R-37 missile

Militarnyi reported that the unmanned surface vehicle used to take out the Russian Mi-8 used an R-37 air-to-air missile and occurred during an encounter on the Black Sea near Cape Tarkhankut in occupied Crimea.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Reports about Kyiv’s sea weapon

According to Newsweek, unofficial reports began circulating in May 2024 that Kyiv had begun equipping its Magura V5 sea drones with the Soviet-era R-37 missile.

What is the R-37 missile?

The R-37 was developed by the Soviet Union and uses infrared homing to find its target before locking on and destroying it according to Business Insider.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By KGySTO, Own Work, CC BY 3.0

An air-to-air weapon

As an air-to-air missile, the R-37 has traditionally been carried and launched by Russian Sukhoi or MiG fighter jets but it was reengineered by Ukraine to be fired from the country's Magura V5 sea drones.

More dynamic sea drones

Business Insider’s Jake Epstein noted at the time the addition of R-37 missiles on Kyiv’s Magura V5 would make the sea drones “dynamic during a mission."

Officially confirmed

On June 17th, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine officially confirmed that R-37 missiles were being fitted to Magura V5 in a post on the agency’s Telegram channel.

A serious concern for Russia

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine called the development "a serious factor of fear and risk" for Russian air assets according to a translation by Business Insider.

An effective development

"Such developments are effective — Russians are very afraid of them," the commander of Group 13 said about the addition of R-37s to Magura V5 sea drones at the time.

It took time to score a hit

Despite being fitted with R-37 missiles since at least June, the first confirmed successful downing of a Russian air asset by the missiles only occurred in December 2024.