Missile-toting drone boats blew up two Russian helicopters and damaged a third in a Black Sea skirmish. Why it matters: Ukrainian outlets said the shoot-downs were world firsts. Engagements like this — especially with video evidence — leave little room for drone warfare naysayers.

Ukraine has claimed that it’s successfully used uncrewed surface vessels (USV), better known as drone boats, to launch aerial drones against Russian targets for the first time. According to Ukrainian authorities,

As the Russia-Ukraine War enters 2025, drone technology will continue to evolve, with both sides increasingly incorporating swarm technology into their drone fleets.

Hard Cat, a Ukrainian drone maker, told Business Insider that the uncrewed drone, the Black Widow 2, can take out surface targets like small boats.

As a result of the attack on Jan. 6, two Russian anti-missile Pantsir-S1 systems and one OSA anti-aircraft vehicle were reportedly damaged or destroyed in the occupied part of Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet was defeated in an encounter with a country practically devoid of warships. The key turned out to be essentially armed, remote-controlled Ukrainian watercraft, which continue to evolve.

Ukrainian troops used an FPV drone to strike the Russian Pole-21 electronic warfare (EW) system. Russian logistics were also disrupted, according to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU). "Special forces destroyed transport and electronic warfare equipment of the occupiers,

For the first time, Ukrainian first-person-view (FPV) drones using a naval drone as a springboard took out three Russian air defense systems, Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security said on Jan.