Red Cat Holdings, in collaboration with Allen Control Systems, has unveiled an innovative version of Ukraine's Magura V7 maritime drone, equipped with a "smart" Bullfrog turret designed to combat aerial and surface targets. This was reported by Defense Express, writes UNN.
Details
The American variant of the drone, named Variant 7, is the first platform within the Red Cat Futures Initiative consortium where artificial intelligence fully controls the process of detecting and targeting weapons against enemy Shahed-type drones. Thanks to the integration of an autonomous system, the maritime drone is now capable not only of performing kamikaze functions but also of providing active air defense in the open sea.
Technical advantages of the Bullfrog turret and capabilities of the maritime platform
The autonomous Bullfrog turret uses computer vision and artificial intelligence algorithms for automatic target tracking, requiring only a final command from the operator to open fire.
The system can be equipped with various types of machine guns, including the M240 and M134 Minigun, and demonstrates high effectiveness in destroying aircraft at distances up to 800 meters.
The basic Variant 7 platform, which is a licensed copy of the Ukrainian Magura V7, has a range of over 1400 kilometers and can carry up to 650 kilograms of payload, making it an ideal carrier for such high-tech modules.
Economic efficiency and scalability of maritime defense
The developers emphasize that the combination of Magura V7 and Bullfrog is an economically viable response to threats from cheap kamikaze drones, as the cost of a machine gun shot is significantly lower than launching an anti-aircraft missile.
The system operates on an open MOSA architecture, allowing drones to be easily combined into "swarms" for massive coastal or naval group defense. This approach creates a new level of security where autonomous marine robots can independently identify and neutralize threats in real-time without constant human intervention.
Ukraine's experience and prospects in the international market
Although the Bullfrog turret has not yet been tested in real combat conditions in Ukraine, the concept of installing weapon modules on maritime drones has been successfully tested by Ukrainian intelligence on Sea Baby platforms.