The Black Sea has long been an intersection of empires and interests, but it’s become a proving ground for the next iteration of war. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has made these skies and seas a proving ground for new tactics, old hardware, and the unforgiving force of technology. What’s happening here isn’t merely a local war—it’s a foreshadowing of how military might is being rewritten in the moment.
Consider the Beriev Be-12 “Chaika” as an example. The seaplane, one of the survivors from Soviet design, was first put into the air in 1960 and was intended for sea patrol and anti-submarine operations. Gull-winged and capable of landing and taking off from the ocean and land, the Be-12 was once a symbol of Soviet power along the disputed coast of the Black Sea. As Greg Goebel describes it, the Be-12 was “not a particularly elegant airplane, but it did have a certain purposeful Soviet look” and flew satisfactorily for decades in Red Navy service. Only a few of the aircraft remained operational when Russia invaded Ukraine, used mainly to patrol for naval drones and conduct search-and-rescue missions.
For several decades, the Be-12 had appeared nearly invincible—tough but aging protector of Russian interests in the Black Sea. That was altered when Ukraine’s military reported it had shot down two Be-12s in Crimea, the first time that the aircraft were lost in battle. “This is the first defeat of a Be-12 in history,” Ukraine’s directorate of intelligence claimed. The strike, launched by the special “Ghosts” unit of Ukraine, also shot down a Mi-8 helicopter, another Cold War-era workhorse that has seen service in scores of conflicts.
Why care? Because the Be-12s were an important part of Russia’s bid to stem Ukraine’s expanding fleet of naval drones—unmanned surface vehicles that have turned the tide of Russian maritime influence. These drones, which even carried anti-air missiles at times and explosives, hit Russian ships, ports, and now planes, causing the Russian Black Sea Fleet to withdraw its longtime home in Sevastopol into safer waters off Novorossiysk. The destruction of the Be-12s is not only a tactical victory; it is a strategic defeat that leaves the sea vulnerable to future use by Ukrainian drones and further reduces the capability of Russia to dominate the sea space.
Naval drone design has been nothing short of revolutionary. Initially, Russia attempted to meet them with slow patrol aircraft like the Be-12 and helicopters like the Ka-29. But once Ukrainian drones evolved to the point where they could shoot down helicopters with air-to-air missiles, Russia had to dispatch high-speed Su-30 fighter aircraft to attack them. That move, however, came at a price. Two Russian Su-30s were destroyed attempting to strike Ukrainian sea drones, Defense Express said, proving even advanced fighter planes are vulnerable to these emerging threats.
But the most dramatic exhibition of Ukrainian tactical acumen was the “Operation Spider’s Web.” On June 1, 2025, Ukraine mounted a deep-strike drone mission that knocked out or damaged as much as a third of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet, including Tu-95MS bombers and A-50 early warning planes. The attack, in CYFIRMA’s terms, deployed 150 tiny drones shot from trucks camouflaged on Russian airfields, evading conventional air defenses and causing estimated $7 billion in damages. The drones employed open-source software, commercial 4G/LTE networks, and AI-based targeting, transforming what were once regarded as “toys” into high-end weapons.
It was not merely a shrewd attack—it was a wake-up call for armies globally. The susceptibility of high-value platforms such as bombers, fighters, and even carriers to low-cost, multi-role drones is no longer a problem to be taken lightly. As CYFIRMA perceives, “the operation bears vulnerabilities even in mighty states. Resilient, decentralized systems and hybrid doctrines are needed”. The civilianization of military technology results in even the most advanced platforms being rendered useless by swarms of low-cost, semi-autonomous drones.
For the Black Sea, a great deal hangs in the balance. Russia’s conventional hegemony, founded on inherited structures and military muscle, is being undermined by Ukrainian ingenuity and NATO umbrella protection. The traditional norms—battleships, bombers, and patrol aircraft having unopposed free rein—are being redefined by a new generation of unmanned systems and asymmetric capabilities. The Black Sea is no longer merely a stage of regional competition; it’s the field of play for a worldwide shift in the ways wars are fought and won.
As Ukraine forges ahead with drones and precision bombing, and Russia scrambles to keep pace, the world is holding its breath. The implications here will be felt far from the shores of the Black Sea, conditioning military thinking all the way from Washington to Beijing. In this new era, adaptability, imagination, and the smart use of technology are turning out to be the greatest force multipliers—outclassing even the most powerful machines of the past in a struggle to remain afloat.