Ukraine's Magura Attack Drone Boat Heads to U.S. Production Under New Oregon Deal

A Ukrainian company that built the drone boats credited with crippling Russia's Black Sea Fleet is now setting up shop in the United States.

Uforce, maker of the Magura attack unmanned surface vessel, signed an agreement with Oregon-based ReconCraft to manufacture the 24-foot drones domestically, according to Maritime Executive. The deal is aimed squarely at landing high-volume U.S. Navy procurement contracts.

ReconCraft isn't a startup chasing headlines. The company has a long track record building boats for U.S. special operations forces, according to Maritime Executive. That existing relationship with the military is exactly why Uforce wants them as a manufacturing partner rather than trying to break into the defense industrial base cold.

What the Magura Actually Does

In Ukrainian service, Magura drones have been used in mass attacks on Russian naval vessels and are fitted with shaped charges and detonators on the bow, according to Maritime Executive. Some variants carry UAVs or missiles for long-range strikes and air defense.

The track record is real. These are the same boats that helped Ukraine achieve sea denial against a Russian navy with no meaningful surface fleet of its own left in much of the Black Sea, and they remain in active use disabling tankers serving Russia, Maritime Executive reported.

The price point is the other half of the pitch. ReconCraft plans to deliver the drones at under $500,000 apiece, according to Maritime Executive. That's a fraction of the cost of a small antiship missile. If the U.S. Navy wants a way to threaten expensive enemy warships with cheap, mass-produced hardware, this is the model.

Who's Running It

Sean Plankey will lead the program as CEO of Uforce's U.S. operations. Plankey previously served as a senior advisor to then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and was a driving force behind the Coast Guard's Force Design 2028 restructuring, according to Maritime Executive, which credits him with helping secure a $25 billion capital investment for the Coast Guard in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

That's a meaningful resume for someone now trying to get a foreign-designed weapons platform through the Pentagon's procurement gauntlet. Plankey knows how the money moves.

"This partnership demonstrates what's possible when American manufacturing and combat-proven innovation come together," Plankey said in a statement reported by Maritime Executive. "Working with ReconCraft, we will help ensure these proven autonomous capabilities become available to the U.S."

The Second Deal, Not the First

This is described by Maritime Executive as the second reported deal to bring a Ukrainian-designed drone boat into American production, following an earlier announcement. The report also references an American-operated drone boat's first combat success earlier this month, though it does not name the platform, location, or target involved in that engagement.

According to Radio Free Europe reporting cited by Maritime Executive, Ukraine and the United States have signed a bilateral statement of intent to allow the export of Ukrainian drones to the U.S. for testing. RFE's Alex Raufoglu reported that two sources confirmed the arrangement, which would clear the legal path for joint ventures like the Uforce/ReconCraft deal to actually deliver hardware onto U.S. soil.

The Skeptical Read

Does a drone boat built for the Black Sea, where Ukraine faced a degraded Russian navy with limited air cover, translate to a Pacific theater where China's navy has real air defense, satellite surveillance, and a much larger surface fleet? A cheap $500,000 boat that worked against an overstretched adversary isn't automatically a war-winner against a peer competitor with better sensors and longer-range weapons. None of the reporting addresses that directly.

There's also the matter of scale. Maritime Executive reports ReconCraft aims to deliver drones "by the hundreds, and eventually by the thousands," but no contract, no Navy solicitation number, and no delivery schedule appear in the available reporting. This is a manufacturing partnership and a statement of intent between governments, not yet a signed Pentagon order.

What Happens Next

The real test is whether the U.S. Navy actually buys in volume. Right now what exists is a joint venture, a bilateral export framework, and a track record from a different war. Whether the Pentagon writes a check that turns this into hundreds of boats in American waters is the open question the reporting has not yet answered.