Ukraine Debuts MV11: The Largest Magura Naval Drone to Date

Ukraine unveiled the MV11 on August 24, marking its largest naval drone yet built by the Ukrainian company UFORCE during the country’s Independence Day parade in Kyiv. The newly introduced unmanned surface vessel expands the MAGURA line, a robotic watercraft series that has played a central role in pushing the Russian Black Sea Fleet away from Ukrainian territorial waters since the full-scale invasion began nearly four years ago.

Evolution of the MAGURA Drone Program

According to reporting from UNITED24 Media, the MAGURA—short for Maritime Autonomous Guard Unmanned Robotic Apparatus—was originally developed under the Brave1 defense-tech cluster by the state defense conglomerate SpetsTechnoExport. Designed outside the rigid timelines of traditional military research and development, the initial watercraft provided a rapid solution for a nation that lacked a conventional navy when Russian warships first blockaded its coasts.

The baseline MAGURA V5 model is a 5.5-meter unmanned surface vessel weighing under one ton. It carries up to 320 kilograms of explosives, cruises at speeds between 40 and 50 knots, and boasts an 800-kilometer operational range on a single mission. Skimming the waterline makes the vessel difficult for radar to detect, while its low thermal and acoustic signature helps it slip past enemy patrols.

Combat Record in the Black Sea

Over the course of the conflict, these robotic watercraft evolved from single-use suicide drones into multi-purpose modular platforms capable of striking ships, engaging aircraft, and launching smaller drones. UNITED24 Media notes that Ukrainian forces have destroyed roughly a third of the Russian naval fleet stationed in the Black Sea using these systems.

Notable operations include the February 2024 sinking of the Ivanovets, a Russian Tarantul-class missile corvette, inside Sevastopol Bay, which Kyrylo Budanov stated was carried out by six MAGURA V5 drones. In March 2024, a swarm of the vessels sank the Sergey Kotov patrol ship. Other missions damaged the Olenegorsky Gornyak landing ship near Novorossiysk and struck infrastructure around the Kerch Strait Bridge. By late 2024, variants fitted with short-range R-73 missiles shot down two Russian Mi-8 helicopters over the Black Sea, marking the first time a naval drone achieved such an anti-air capability.