For the first time, Ukrainian first-person-view (FPV) drones using a naval drone as a springboard took out three Russian air defense systems, Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security said on Jan. 7.
"Only a week after Ukrainian sea drones made history by successfully taking down Russian helicopters, another historical first as our homegrown naval drones are now launching their own FPV drones, destroying Russia's air defense units," the government agency said on social media.
As a result of the attack on Jan. 6, two Russian anti-missile Pantsir-S1 systems and one OSA anti-aircraft vehicle were reportedly damaged or destroyed in the occupied part of Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast.
The strikes were carried out by Ukraine's Navy, which released a video of the attack against one of the Pantsir systems. The Kyiv Independent could not establish the extent of damage dealt to Russian air defenses.
A Pantsir S-1 has an estimated price tag of around $15 million. One such system is suspected to be behind the mistaken downing of an Azerbaijani plane on Dec. 25, according to the media.
The attack came a week after Ukrainian Magura V5 naval drones hit three Russian Mi-8 helicopters, downing two of them over the Black Sea in another strike that was also the first of its kind.
President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree in February ordering the creation of a separate branch of the Armed Forces for drones, called Unmanned Systems Forces, to command the rapidly evolving drone warfare in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Cheaper to operate and more precise than most artillery systems, drones quickly became one of the main tools for Ukraine to fend off Russia’s assaults amid chronic artillery ammunition shortages.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
