U.S. Tests Ukrainian Magura Naval Drones During Exercises in Philippines

The publication released an image showing U.S. special operations forces directing naval drones toward the side of a ship. Seconds later, an explosion occurs, after which the vessel sinks.

The tests took place during recent exercises in the Philippines. According to Bloomberg, this was the first use in the Indo-Pacific region of Magura-class uncrewed surface vessels developed in Ukraine.

Magura CEO Oleh Rohynskyi said interest in such systems from countries in the Indo-Pacific region remains extremely high. According to him, the company is already in talks with several states and is considering building at least two production facilities in the region.

Bloomberg writes that naval drones could play a key role in a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific region—a vast area roughly 30 times the size of the continental United States.

The United States, China and other countries are actively developing programs to create and deploy such systems—both on the surface of the water and underwater.

“This is exactly what we need more of—distributed, survivable and relatively inexpensive systems that will help deny China the ability to use the seas around Taiwan and the First Island Chain,” said former U.S. submarine captain Thomas Shugart.

The U.S. Hellscape concept for defending Taiwan calls for saturating the Taiwan Strait with large numbers of cheap anti-ship systems. Surface drones such as Magura are expected to play one of the key roles in that strategy.

In April, Captain Garrett Miller, commander of the U.S. Navy’s unmanned surface vessel squadron, said that by 2030 thousands of small naval drones could be deployed in the Indo-Pacific region. Dozens of U.S. companies are already producing such systems.

At the same time, Bloomberg notes that China is investing more than anyone else in the region in naval drones. At a military parade last year, Beijing showed several new underwater drones, including systems for reconnaissance and mine-laying.

China is also already using the 58-meter unmanned vessel Orca JARI-USV-A, equipped with radar systems and an unmanned helicopter for anti-submarine warfare and patrol missions. In April, China conducted its first test of an L30 surface-drone swarm off the coast of Guangdong province.