Drone warfare in Ukraine prompts fresh thinking in helicopter tactics

MILAN — Air protection and drone warfare noticed in Ukraine are altering the character of navy helicopter techniques, transferring the platforms’ heart of gravity away from the tip of the spear to an emphasis on combat-support missions alongside the entrance traces, based on officers and challenge specialists.

The shift is animated largely by proliferating ground-based air defenses that make manned flight over the battlefield virtually unattainable.

“In 2024, helicopters on the entrance, as a result of risk and saturation of anti-aircraft means, primarily carry out hearth help alongside the road of fight engagement, utilizing the toss bombing techniques [unaimed strikes by unguided missiles] and have additionally been a method of countering unmanned techniques,” mentioned Serhii Kuzan, a former adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Protection.

He recalled the Russian emphasis on helicopters throughout the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Moscow’s troops had deliberate a large-scale touchdown operation, which ultimately failed, on the Antonov airport close to Hostomel, solely 25 kilometers from Kyiv.

The vulnerability of fight helicopters has translated right into a excessive variety of losses on the Russian facet. In February, a report printed by the London-based Worldwide Institute for Strategic Research discovered that the Russian Aerospace Forces had misplaced 40% of their pre-war Ka-52 Hokum-B assault helicopter fleet.

“Russian rotary losses have continued, however adjustments in techniques and the introduction of latest weapons, specifically the LMUR (often known as the Kh-39) air-to-surface missile, which supplies a higher stand-off vary, have had an impact,” Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for navy aerospace at IISS informed Protection Information.

Maj. Gen. Pierre Meyer, commander of the French Military Mild Aviation (ALAT), mentioned Russia’s helicopter-based touchdown try ought to be a cautionary story for navy planners.

“At Hostomel, we noticed Russian helicopters intervening virtually on parade for 2 days, at a sure peak and arriving en masse, tightly packed – in the long run, it’s not a query of whether or not helicopters nonetheless have their place, it’s how we use them,” Meyer informed the viewers on the Paris Air Discussion board final month.

“Had we acted just like the Russian helicopters, with the mode of motion I’m speaking about, we might’ve had precisely the identical losses,” he mentioned.

Meyer mentioned there’s utility in teaming helicopters with drones, as many Western armed forces are already doing, with unmanned aerial autos offering extra “aero-combat motion and maneuver” to navy choppers.

In response to Kuzan, the previous Ukrainian protection adviser, helicopters might quickly grow to be built-in with unmanned forces, “utilizing their command management factors, highly effective communication relays or as a cellular technique of radio-electronic warfare and intelligence.”

Bruno Even, the CEO of Airbus Helicopters, mentioned rotary aviation can nonetheless play its trump card of all-around utility.

“Relying on the battle, the assault helicopter has its rightful place and function to play – their use could should evolve in direction of stand-off weapons that permit the plane to intervene from a higher distance,” he mentioned on the Paris Air Discussion board.

Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris contributed to this report.