Budanov on destruction of two Russian Su-30s: This is historic moment. AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared-guided missiles were used
The day before, the Defense Forces destroyed two Russian Su-30 aircraft in the Black Sea using AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles with infrared guidance.
The head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov told The War Zone, Censor.NET reports with reference to RBC-Ukraine.
Thus, Ukrainian reconnaissance men shot down two Su-30 Flanker multi-purpose fighters using AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles with infrared guidance.
This is the first time that fighter jets have been shot down by unmanned boats, and the first time that AIM-9s have been used from an unmanned boat to destroy an enemy.
"This is a historic moment," Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, told reporters.
The incident took place in the Black Sea on Friday, May 2, Budanov said, providing new details of the incident.
According to him, the GRU used three Magura V7 unmanned boats in the attack, two of which fired at the aircraft.
"Magura V7 is a variant of Magura V5 for air defense," Budanov explained, refusing to go into details about the difference between the two.
The DIU chief also said that the crew of the first Su-30 survived and was picked up in the Black Sea by a civilian vessel. According to preliminary data, the crew of the second plane was killed.
Background.
The AIM-9 Sidewinder is an American short-range air-to-air missile developed by Raytheon in the mid-1950s. The AIM-9 was introduced into service in 1956.
As a reminder, on May 2, 2025, a special unit of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, in cooperation with the SBU and the Ukrainian Defense Forces, downed a Russian Su-30 in the Black Sea, the world's first destruction of a combat aircraft by a maritime drone. Later, it became known that the Ukrainian military had shot down the second Russian aircraft over Crimea in a day.
