The use of the drone could inspire Ukrainian air defense and have a dilemma between protecting Odessa's targets and preserving its surface-to-air missile inventory.
The Black Sea War between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate, and on the morning of May 29, 2025, another innovation by the Ukrainian General Intelligence Agency (GUR) explain It shot down a Russian target drone powered by jets Dan-M. With a new warhead and possibly a tweaked guide section, probably used as a cruise missile. The system was originally developed by OKB Simonova, also known as the Sokol Design Bureau.
Video of night engagement shows that the ground tag fired a missile that ran through the sky and dropped the infrared lens of the object into the water – indicating that the target had been shot down. The missile being fired is likely the R-73 Archer missile, as it is mentioned in the video to intercept drones.
According to the leading Ukrainian handle 'Serhey Flash'the attack occurred in the morning, and one or many DAN-MS were launched from Crimea, where “training and testing reactive targets […] It was converted to impact drone. “The use of drones is likely to be an experiment to see Ukrainian defenses if the bait takes the bait and there is a dilemma between protecting the drone in Odessa and the USV plant and conserving its surface-to-air missile (SAM) stock.
Dan-M is used in loss Two Russian su-30sms on May 2 and May 3 Black Sea The AIM-9 air-to-air missile, converted to a SAM role, is not launched by an aircraft, but by a Magura V7 unmanned Surtance ship (USV).
💥New Russian “Dan-M” jet drone was shot down by Ukrainian air defense in the Black Sea
On May 29, 2025, Ukrainian forces used a mobile air defense system developed by Ukrainian Defense Intelligence (HUR) to shoot down Russian jet drones near Odesa.
The system is equipped with… pic.twitter.com/ozhnanrsh6
– Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 30, 2025
In February, Ukraine also used Ukrainian Soviet-era R-73 AAM as a containerized air defense missile system, and also obtained two British-developed “Gravehawk” systems. As Aeronautician It is reported that there are expected to be 15 units this year. according to “Military News”The video of GUR was republished, and the Dan-M was intercepted by the “mobile air defense missile system, equipped with the R-73 missile developed by experts from the main intelligence agency of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. support While Ukraine now uses multiple systems to use R-73 as SAM, it is not clear whether the graves are involved in the grave.
Dan-M Target UAV
The conversion of the drone to an ice age missile looks similar to the Soviet-era Strizh-141/143 high-speed reconnaissance drone, which Ukraine had previously converted to a land crash missile, hitting Russian air bases in 2022.
The propulsion section of the Dan-M, from the inlet to the main power plant and exhaust, is completely back, from the middle to the tail end of the weapon. This design configuration is consistent with many elderly pilotless target drones.
Otherwise, most cruise missiles would otherwise have only air inlets protruded, and the engine and exhaust devices were embedded in the main body. Serhey said the missile can fly at altitude of 9,000 meters at a speed of 450-700 km/h at a speed of 25 to 40 minutes at a speed of 450-700 km/h.
Videos released by various users show collages of imagery of the MI-8 helicopter carrying two Dan-ms on its outboard tower and firing continuously, where the drone/missile ignited the electric motor after the descent. Another external and on-board video is shown, showing the ground-fired Dan-M, which was fired from a railroad transmitter driven by a discardable booster, and later dropped. Both the MI-8 and the Army's Dan-Ms then ended the journey with parachute-deployed parachute descent.
Today, the new Russian Dan-M jet drone, its technical characteristics and personal photos, are often mentioned in the news.
I would like to suggest a short video that might be interested in someone. Join us. pic.twitter.com/dujeg8lenk– Captain (n) (@capt_navy) May 29, 2025
These videos may have been from previous Russian tests. How the Russians launched Dan-M in recent events, and this release also did not appear in the recent Russian Ministry of Defense (Rumod) battlefield update.
National Defense Express Claims that the Russians made an improved Dan-M in 2020 and “partially updated on-board electronics and new small MGTD-125E turbojet engine […] Replace MD-1220. The report further added that Dan-M “provided Russian troops with weapons based on known coordinates, based on known coordinates in a range of 300 to 400 kilometers. ”
Russian target
The system and its design choices allow more guidance and navigation systems to be stored in the body, and stealth is not a priority, and the goal is to attract air defense fires. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regularly complains about NATO air defense systems such as Patriots, Nassams, Samm/T running to Russia's Geran-2 Kamikaze drone, Iskander Tactical ballistic missile and KH-101 ALCM.
The latest dissatisfaction is Lemond May 26, 2025, “Several Patriots around Kiev […] No protection against ballistic missiles is provided 100% protection. “The phenomenon also shows how Ukraine and Russia command “asymmetric” advantages in different theaters of the war, while Ukraine maintains an overall advantage in the Black Sea, while Russia leads on the ground.
Finally, we don't know about Russian Danish stocks, but we can think of them as substantial. Even a one-time trial will not take place even if a large inventory is needed to expand and modify. Ukraine will not use its larger advanced air defense missiles, such as Patriots, Nassams, Eagles or Samp/t, to intercept targets like Dan Mi. Therefore, it has re-used target drones to smaller missiles, such as the R-73 or AIM-9.
Senjata Iran Pemintas Drone Karrar 3 Berpandu Infra Red ( udara ke udara ) yang Mampu Terbang diatas 47.000 kaki 👉 kini telah di siagakan dan dihadapkan ke udara siap meluncur kapanpun diperintahkan pic.twitter.com/q60hwilo2a
– 𝙾𝙼𝙹𝙾𝙼𝙹² (@OMJ_JENGGOT) October 23, 2023
National Defense Express However, since “none of the drones are mass-produced”, a strange problem posed to the Dan-M’s choice, and its “too low” stock is not worth investing. This has caused the possibility that the Ukrainians may have misidentified the missile in the first place. It is worth noting that the system has a surprising similarity to the Iranian Karal interceptor drone, which is also able to launch air-to-air missiles.
