September 24, 2026: Last year, Ukraine introduced a new V7 model of its Magura naval drone, weighing about 1.2 tons and carrying 650 kg of weapons. Its operational range is a thousand kilometers. The V7 can also be equipped with an electric generator, enabling it to stay at sea for up to seven days. This model can move at speeds of up to 72 kilometers per hour. Cruising speed is 43 kilometers per hour. This year, Ukraine has been adding new targeting systems that incorporate unified navigation, target identification, and pursuit. With this, a naval drone like Magura can be sent anywhere in the Black Sea to infiltrate a protected port, find its target, or follow a list of alternative targets. These drones also fly round-trip missions to gather information on a port, then return to base to serve as scouts or be armed for an attack mission.

America has a long tradition of naval and scientific drones and, combined with Ukrainian combat experience, tweaked its current Corsair naval drone. Last July, the American Navy used three Corsair naval surface drones to attack an Iranian submarine and ship maintenance facility in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. As a result, Iran now has difficulty attacking commercial shipping. F-18 warplanes and Marine F-35s operating from the USS Abraham Lincoln supported Corsairs. Land-based AH-64 helicopter gunships armed with autocannons and Hellfire guided missiles provided additional air cover. The Air Force also has A-10 ground-attack aircraft armed with a 30mm high-speed autocannon, missiles, and guided bombs.

Earlier in July, an American Navy Saronic Corsair naval surface drone rescued two Army gunship pilots who crashed off the coast of Oman near the entry to the Persian Gulf. The AH-64 helicopter had been patrolling near the Strait of Hormuz and was shot down by Iranian forces. The Corsair is an 11-meter vessel that can carry a ton of cargo up to 2,000 kilometers at a top speed of more than 60 kilometers an hour, with a cruising speed of less than half that. Each one costs $1.2 million, about 10 times as much as an equivalent Ukrainian naval drone.

Saronic also has a larger, related 82-meter Marauder naval drone that can carry 150 tons of cargo up to 7,300 kilometers, with a top speed of 45 kilometers an hour and a cruising speed of 22 kilometers an hour. This drone can carry four 40-foot containers, eight 20-foot containers, or any other combination of cargo that fits.

Ukrainian naval drones have revolutionized naval warfare within a few hundred kilometers of a coastline. So far, few other navies have shown much interest in replicating Ukraine's success with naval drones. The U.S. Coast Guard has used naval drones to assist in interdicting drug smuggling boats. The U.S. Navy has access to Ukrainian naval drone technology and is paying attention because China is doing a lot of work on naval drones, including a ship described as a drone carrier equipped with aerial and naval drones.

It all began in 2022 when the Russian Black Sea Fleet dominated the Black Sea and threatened Ukrainian grain exports, which accounted for 41 percent of its export income. Most of these grain products went to Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Ukraine needed to deal with the Black Sea Fleet quickly. The initial problem was that Ukraine did not have a large navy. They had some patrol boats, which were a nuisance, not an obstacle, to continued Russian control of the Black Sea.

Ukraine had a secret weapon, the Magura naval drone. About a hundred of these drones defeated the Black Sea fleet. When the war started, the Magura V5 was just a concept, a preliminary design for a one-ton, 5.5-meter-long naval drone. Magura initially used a fishing boat with a solid waterproof cover, plus batteries for propulsion. There were sensors and a compartment for 300 kg of explosives or weapons. These include a machine gun protruding above the drone's topside, while two Sidewinder anti-aircraft missiles were in launch tubes, ready to be fired at Russian aircraft or helicopters. Magura has a substantial number of electronic components, including several day/night video cameras that give the remote operator a view of what is around the drone. It also has an autopilot, so the remote operator does not have to personally maneuver the drone over long stretches of open water. Magura is equipped with contact fuses at the front of the boat

Most Magura missions are one-way, but those equipped with machine-guns and surface-to-air missiles are also used to attack Russian aircraft. In one case, a Magura V7 used those two missiles to shoot down two expensive Russian SU-30 jet fighters. This was the first time a naval drone had shot down warplanes. Earlier, a Magura had used Ukrainian R-73 heat-seeking missiles to take down one Mi-8 helicopter and damage another.

The Ukrainian experience using naval drones to defeat the Russian Black Sea Fleet was unique. Ukraine had only surface-to-ship missiles when the war started, but eventually shifted to three new naval drones, Sea Baby, Mother, and MAGURA. (Maritime Autonomous Guard Unmanned Robotic Apparatus).

Some of these naval drones were used for a mid-2023 Kerch Bridge attack. One of the drones carried 850 kg of explosives and inflicted enough damage to halt use of the bridge. The Mother drone carried 450 kg, and the MAGURA carried 320 kg. In addition to attacking targets, these drones can also be used for reconnaissance and surveillance using video cameras that broadcast what they see back to the drone operator. Some drones have been armed with small rocket launchers. The Mother drone has a range of over 700 kilometers and can operate on the high seas. Endurance is about 60 hours, and top speed is over 70 kilometers an hour. Mother was used for an attack on the Russian naval base at Novorossiysk, which is a thousand kilometers from Crimea.

Ukraine has been developing subsurface drones and, in early 2023, introduced the first one, the Toloka2 TK-150. This drone was 2.5 meters long and equipped with a sensor mast that stayed above the surface for navigation and target identification. Toloka2 can also carry a small explosive warhead. Later, Ukraine developed the larger Marichka drone that is six meters long and one meter in diameter. Ukraine sought a Western manufacturer to build and weaponize Ukrainian drones.

Ukrainian drones have been quite successful in attacking and sinking or disabling Russian navy ships. So far, over a dozen attacks have sunk or damaged about twenty ships. Ukrainian drone operations in the Black Sea forced the Russian Black Sea Fleet to withdraw to the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Sevastopol was no longer a safe place to be, and Russian ships could no longer launch their Kalibr cruise missiles without risking attack by Ukrainian drones. The presence and aggressive use of the drones meant that Ukraine’s grain corridor was kept open despite Russia’s threats to interfere. Beyond symbolic significance, the corridor is critical to Ukraine's economy and is expected to contribute seven percent to GDP growth in 2024, and even more in 2025 and this year, because of grain shipments.

Russian countermeasures to Ukrainian naval drones included using aircraft and helicopters to destroy slow-moving drones before they attack and expanding the use of jamming to disrupt drone control signals. These changes made it much more difficult for Ukrainian naval drones to reach and destroy targets. But by 2025 the Russians had already lost control of the Black Sea and were not getting it back.

This left Russian warships dependent on bases in the north, near the land border with Norway, and in the Far East, near Japanese and South Korean naval bases. In a post-Cold War development, the Japanese and South Korean fleets are now far larger than the Russian Far East fleet. Before the 1990s, the South Korean fleet was largely non-existent and the Japanese fleet tiny and purely defensive. Chinese naval power began to emerge by the late 1990s but took another decade to become a significant force. Then, as now, the American Western Pacific Fleet was the region's major naval power.

The lessons learned by American, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Ukrainian, and Russian naval commanders are that these drones have changed the rules for naval warfare. If China tries to invade Taiwan, it must prepare countermeasures for numerous naval drones blocking the way. Everyone continues to observe Black Sea operations for details on what new tactics, techniques, and drone designs appear. The U.S. has an edge because they are a major supporter of Ukraine and is seeking to make the most of its insider knowledge of the Ukrainian naval drone effort.

Currently, the few active Russian Black Sea ports are defended by physical barriers, airborne and naval patrols, along with hundreds of heavy machine guns. This is the one weapon that can quickly cripple or destroy naval drones caught inside a protected anchorage. During the last year, Ukraine has revived attacks on Russian cargo ships and a few military vessels.