Ukraine is now using bomber drones launched from unmanned surface vessels (USVs aka drone boats) to attack targets in Crimea. This includes a high-value Russian radar installation on peninsula. The strikes mark the latest iteration of Ukraine’s drone boat campaign that’s kept Russia’s Black Sea Fleet (BSF) at bay and damaged enemy military facilities in occupied Crimea as well as the Kerch Bridge.

“On the night of July 1 to 2, 2025, Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces carried out a brilliant, high-precision special operation!,” the Ukrainian MoD claimed on X, adding that it destroyed three critical components of the prized Nebo-M radar system.

The 67-second video posted by the MoD shows the bomber drones launching from the bow of the sea drones and dropping several munitions on the Russian radars.

�� Ukrainian heavy drones launched from the marine drones bombard Russian radar systems in Crimea!

Strikes were carried out on the components of the Russian “Nebo-M” radar system:

•RLM-M 55Zh6M “Nebo-M”

•RLM-D 55Zh6M “Nebo-M”

•Radar Command Post (KU RLS) 55Zh6M “Nebo-M” pic.twitter.com/fSr2zCNt8k — Special Kherson Cat �� ���� (@bayraktar_1love) July 3, 2025

The use of bomber drones launched from sea drones offers some important advantages. In March, we told you about how the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) used first-person view (FPV) drones launched from drone boats against Russian radars and surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems. Using bomber drones gives Ukrainian operators the ability to strike more than one target per drone with possibly heavier warheads than FPV drones can carry. They can also travel farther while maintaining their connection, as they don’t have to dive to the ground to hit their targets. As we have reported in the past, Ukraine also has bomber drones that can launch guided munitions with a heavier punch.

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This development was not lost on Russian military observers.

“The enemy shows footage of a drone strike with drops on our positions on the western coast,” the popular Russian Two Majors Telegram channel noted. “A single (sea drone) snuck up, and drones were launched from it. A new element was the use of drones with drop systems; thus the enemy achieved several strikes from each UAV.”

A bomb dropped from a Ukrainian drone launched from a sea drone strikes a Russian radar system in Crimea. (Ukrainian MoD screencap)

One of the bomber drones launched by the sea drone was reportedly later recovered by the Russians.

(Via X)

The drone boat was later destroyed by Russian aviation, Two Majors claimed without providing visual proof. Still, they used this incident to seek greater resources for Russian troops in Crimea.

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“They know how to fight this floating junk, controlled through Elon Musk’s Starlink, in Crimea and practice it,” Two Majors posited. “You just need to give resources to effective units ready for unconventional solutions.”

The communications architecture for such a concept would include a satellite communications system on the boat, which they already carry and often multiple types at once, and a direct line-of-sight radio link from the boat to the drone. This would allow operators to control the drone in real time from anywhere, with the boat working as a platform to launch the drone and also as a relay and control node for it.

Ukraine’s drone boat campaign began with kamikaze variants, laden with explosives and set out on one-way missions to hit Russian targets. Ukraine has since made a series of advancements, turning these vessels into reusable anti-aircraft platforms, first-person view (FPV) drone launchers and even gunboats. As we previously noted, Ukraine’s early drone boat attacks on the BSF were a “wakeup call” marking “a new point in unmanned warfare.” The lessons of its ongoing campaign have been noted by the U.S. Navy, Cmdr. Michael Linn said.

In early May, we were the first to report that Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) used its new Magura V7 USV, armed with a pair of AIM-9X Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles, to shoot down a pair of Russian Su-30 Flanker fighters flying over the Black Sea. At the time, all indications were that this was the legacy AIM-9L/M model, which seemed strange — more on that in a moment. But now we know AIM-9Xs were actually used. The Su-30 downing followed GUR’s claimed downing of a Russian Mi-8 Hip helicopter over the Black Sea in December using an adapted R-73 (AA-11 Archer) air-to-air missile fired from a Magura V5 USV, an earlier variant of the Magura V7.

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You can see the Magura V7 engagement with the Su-30 in the following video.

World first: On May 2, 2025, the @DI_Ukraine special operations unit, in coordination with the Security Service of Ukraine and Defence Forces of Ukraine, eliminated a russian Su-30 fighter jet in the Black Sea.

�� https://t.co/DXhg74AKcgpic.twitter.com/Z4fP5CFRb8 — Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) May 3, 2025

Beyond how the weapons were delivered, this latest attack is significant because of what was targeted. The MoD said it destroyed one RLM-M radar, one RLM-D radar and a radar control station.

As we have previously reported, the potential loss of elements of the Nebo-M radar system could have significant impacts on the ability of Russia’s forces to detect, track, and attempt to intercept various aerial threats, including ballistic missiles.

The Nebo-M first entered Russian service in 2017. It is a multi-purpose long-range radar system. The manufacturer says it can detect targets out to a maximum range of nearly 373 miles (600 kilometers) and claims it has at least some capability to spot and track ballistic threats and even stealthy aircraft.

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From our earlier story: “The RLM-M is a large, road-mobile 3D VHF target acquisition radar that is carried on an 8×8 truck, and reportedly has a unit cost of $100 million. The RLM-D, which is also carried on an 8×8 truck, is a similarly large L-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) air surveillance radar.”

Both can be set up to feed targeting data, via the central command post vehicle, to various air defense systems, including S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.

The RLM-M radar system struck by Ukraine earlier this week. (Ukrainian MoD screencap)

RLM-D radar system that was hit in the same attack. (Ukrainian MoD screencap)

The location of these radars, on the western-most tip of Crimea, is also significant. Targeted as part of Ukraine’s ongoing campaign to blind Russia, taking them out potentially opens additional holes in Russia’s air defense overlay of the peninsula and the northwestern Black Sea. This could go a long way to ensuring the survivability of standoff strike weapons, like Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG, and other attacks, such as those by long-range kamikaze drones. Given that, Ukraine has frequently hit Russian radars and SAM systems here.

Crimea

It is unclear at the moment how many sea drones Ukraine is using to launch bomber drones. If the results of the attack earlier this week in Crimea are any indication, there is an incentive to boost this capability. It gives Ukraine another asymmetric weapon system to amplify its combat power.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com