First Time Drone Missile Is Used In This Manner

The Ukrainian military shot down a Russian helicopter with a missile fired from a naval drone in the first-of-its-kind combat engagement with a drone weapon being deployed in an aerial attack.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry posted a video on X showing the Russian Mi-8 helicopter firing at the Magura V5 drone boat before the drone fired an R-73 Sea Dragon missile that brought down the helicopter in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea.

The social media post said, "A Russian Mi-8 helicopter was destroyed using R-73 [Sea Dragon] missiles near Cape Tarkhankut in temporarily occupied Crimea. Another enemy helicopter was damaged and returned to the airfield.”

The Defense Ministry put music to the video, the Christmas song “Carol of the Bells,” originally composed by Ukrainian musician Mykola Leontovych in the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast. Pokrovsk is a key target for Russia in the ongoing war with Ukraine.

The missile used in the strike was an R-73 Sea Dragon, a short-range infrared-guided air-to-air weapon that the Ukrainian forces have adapted to be launched from marine drones. Ukrainian forces used the naval drones to shoot down two Russian helicopters and damaged a third earlier in the week.

FMI:  www.kmu.gov.ua/