For the first time in the history of warfare, fighter jets have been shot down by missiles (AIM-9 Sidewinders) launched from a naval drone (Magura-7s). Footage of one downing can be viewed below:
Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov – Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence chief – stated that three Magura-7 air defence drone boats participated in the shootdown of the fighter jets.
Ukraine’s rapid drone innovation has been borne of necessity. With a smaller military industrial base and unable to rely on large reserves of aircraft, Ukraine has been forced to take a hyper-efficient defensive approach to defending the skies. While a Magura-7 drone costs an estimated $240,000, a Russian SU-30 fighter is estimated to cost $50 million. AIM-9 missiles cost an estimated $400,000.
Spending $640,000 to destroy a $50 million aircraft is a cost-exhange ratio of 78:1. As Naval News notes, this is a significant development: “The success of Ukraine’s uncrewed surface drones (USVs) cannot be overstated. They are rewriting the rules of naval warfare.”
There is a lesson here for Canada.
Both the Liberals and Conservatives promised to raise defence spending to 2% of GDP by 2030 at the latest. Public support for increased defence spending has risen.
The government thus has a mandate to invest in the CAF. The question is how to structure that investment.
Should Canada go all in on legacy platforms, or should we ‘leapfrog’ into more decentralized, cost-effective, drone-based warfare? An interesting conceptual comparison is mobile banking in much of Africa, where, due to a lack of legacy banking locations, many African nations adopted mobile banking ahead of much of the world. As noted by Brian Mahlangu, VP Product: Digital Platforms Mobile at Absa Bank, this was borne of necessity:
“Only 43% of African adults have formal bank accounts, but in countries like Kenya and Ghana, mobile money penetration tops 60%. Why? Because Africa skipped the “banking” phase and went straight to digital. Forget fancy apps—this revolution runs on basic feature phones and USSD codes (those #magic number combos you’d text to check your balance).”
This has bred innovation: “Africa didn’t just adopt mobile money; it reinvented it. Take Kenya’s M-Pesa, the godfather of mobile wallets. Launched in 2007, it’s now used by over 50 million people across seven countries. Need to split a bill? Kenyans shrug and say, “Just M-Pesa me.” Even street vendors have QR codes.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, fintech startups like Paga and OPay are booming despite regulatory tussles. In Ghana, MTN Mobile Money is so mainstream that churches collect offerings via mobile cash.”
Canada could achieve something similar in the defence domain if, rather than trying to replicate legacy military procurement, we instead shift the bulk of investment to drones, drone defence, and unmanned AI-driven platforms. This would not preclude investment in legacy platforms, and building a strong defence industrial base to produce artillery, ground vehicles, ships, and more is still relevant, but a larger percentage of new military investment should be directed towards the platforms of the future.
In this way, Canada could leverage defence investment to build a robust military, without being encumbered by large legacy fleets. Rather than view our current lack of military strength as a negative, we can view it as providing the freedom to build a more advanced and efficient force. This approach would help Canada leverage the strengths of young Canadians for roles such as drone pilots and bring our tech sector into deeper cooperation with the CAF.
As noted previously, close cooperation with Ukraine could help Canada become a world leader in drone production, and is necessary for this approach to succeed. Given Ukraine’s rapid military innovation and Canada’s need for rapid military expansion, we must seize this opportunity now.
Spencer Fernando
Image – YouTube
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