I got it out of the water. The Ukrainians published the details of the first downing of a Russian helicopter from a sea drone

“Soldiers of the HUR Grupa 13 special unit on December 31 shot down an aerial target for the first time using a Magura V5 missile-armed naval attack drone,” Ukrainian military intelligence said.

She also added details: “During the battle in the Black Sea at Cape Tarchankut in the temporarily occupied Crimea, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was destroyed by R-73 missiles. One more of these enemy helicopters was damaged by fire and managed to reach the airbase.’

The video captures the Mi-8 helicopter, whose silhouette is clearly visible. You can also see the launch of the R-73 rocket, which zigzags towards the target. The geysers of water indicate that the helicopter crew was aware of the presence of the unmanned ship. From the video, it seems that she was afraid of the attack, because she fired false targets, but the rocket could not be fooled by them. But it is not clear when the video was taken, although the Ukrainians claim that it was on Tuesday.

Later, Ukrainian military intelligence published a radio interception of communications from the damaged helicopter. “I’m going down. I got it out of the water,” reports the Russian pilot. “There was a shot – they hit me. Then I saw another flash, I don’t know where it went, but the first shot went straight to me and exploded somewhere nearby. I felt it inside the helicopter. Then the systems failed,” he added a little later.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, radio interception proves that the Russian Mi-8 was hit by a drone on Tuesday, December 31. “He was able to return to the base,” specified HUR according to the website of the newspaper Ukrainska pravda.

The Magura V5 is the pinnacle of the development of Ukrainian unmanned boats, which were originally used primarily against Russian naval targets. However, footage from the tests showed that the Ukrainians tried to arm them with various weapons, including Grad-type salvo rocket launchers.

The first case of the use of an R-73 missile fired from an unmanned boat was recorded this May, when a shot of a boat armed with this missile appeared, The War Zone server reported. It was taken by the crew of the Russian Kamov Ka-29 patrol helicopter. The drone managed to be destroyed by firing from the on-board guns. The boat had two rails for launching R-73 rockets, but only one rocket. This indicates that the second one was used. Russia stated that it was fired at the Mi-8 helicopter, which was not hit.

Ukrainian unmanned boats were previously armed with older R-60 air-to-air missiles. Both types are suitable for this purpose because they have infrared guidance and it is not necessary to control them remotely. Launching from the surface or from the ground, however, significantly limits their range, because they do not have enough fuel to be able to climb high, as they are expected to be fired from an aircraft. However, they can be used against low-flying helicopters.

The newer missile is referred to as the R-73 SeaDragon, which suggests that it could be a variant of the Vympel R-73 air-to-air missile that is modified to be launched from a boat. Since 1984, the R-73 missile has been the main weapon of Soviet and Russian aircraft for air combat. It has infrared guidance, but it can also be aimed with a helmet sight. The weapon was developed by the Vympel office in Moscow. The Russians gradually perfected it and supplied it to their allies. It was used in Ethiopia’s war with Eritrea and in the last conflict between India and Pakistan, as well as during the Russian attack on Georgia.

It was modified for launching from the country already at the end of the nineties in Serbia, this is how it was also used by the Yemeni Houthis, who found these rockets in government weapons warehouses.