The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine hasreleased a dramatic video showing one of its TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) striking two assault boats of the Russian Navy. According to the Ukrainian MoD, the two vessels were Raptor-class assault boats. They were struck in the vicinity of the now famous “Snake Island” (Zmiinyi Island), located roughly 70 nautical miles south of Odessa. The time stamp in the video, recorded directly from the UAV EO/IR system shows that the dual strike took place  2 May 2022.  Click on this link to watch video.  Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny confirmed “Two Russian Raptor boats were destroyed at dawn today near Snake Island.”

Raptor Patrol Boats photographed mid April

According to its manufacturer, Bayraktar from Turkey, TB2 is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE), Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle capable of conducting Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and armed attack missions. A number of systems have been delivered to Ukraine (some of them for the Ukrainian Navy) before and during Russia’s invasion. They have been used effectively by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The TB2 reportedly played a role in the sinking of Moskva. Following the loss of their flagship, this is yet another blow to the Russian Navy. This is likely the first ever actual naval warfare engagement of the Turkish-made TB2. The Turkish Navy demonstrated how effective the UAV could be in naval warfare about one year ago, when the TB2 engaged a target at sea for the first time.

TB2 launching a MAM-L

The Russian Raptor boats were likely destroyed with the MAM-L lightweight Smart Micro Munition. MAM-L has been developed for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), light attack aircrafts and air-ground missions for low payload capacity air platforms. MAM-L can engage both stationary and moving targets with high precision.

Source: NavalNews