For the first time in the world: maritime drone shoots down a combat aircraft

A Ukrainian surface drone has managed to shoot down a Russian warplane over the Black Sea.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense said that it had managed to hit a Su-30 fighter jet.

Ukrainian forces sent Magura maritime drones to the waters near the port of Novorossiysk to make it happen.

On May 2, 2025, a Special Unit of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Defense Forces, shot down a Russian Su-30 multi-role fighter in the Black Sea, the world’s first destruction of a combat aircraft by a maritime drone.

The historic strike with a missile from the Magura unmanned maritime platform was carried out by the soldiers of the Group 13 Special Forces Unit.

The multi-purpose fighter jet of the aggressor state of Russia, whose estimated cost is about $50 million, burst into flames in the air and eventually fell into the sea – to the bottom of the ruthless Neptune’s domain.

This morning we wrote that during a combined drone attack on the Russian naval base in Novorossiysk, a Russian aircrew was shot down over the sea.

It was not known at the time what type of aircraft they were flying. But the information that the aircraft was from an air assault regiment indicated that it was likely to have lost a Su-24 or Su-30.

Such aircraft are part of the 43rd Air Assault Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy, which is based in occupied Saki. Therefore, the downed Su-30 combat aircraft was from this military unit.

Aviation against maritime drones

Russian combat aviation, including fighter jets and helicopters, has long been used to detect and destroy Ukrainian maritime drones. The problem for the Russians in destroying maritime drones by air is that they can only be effectively engaged in visual contact.

On December 31, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) published a video from a Magura maritime drone that captured the downing of two Russian Mi-8 helicopters.

The successful liquidation took place in the Black Sea off the coast of occupied Crimea. The combat operation was also carried out by the fighters of the Group 13 Special Forces Unit.