Drone warfare in Ukraine prompts fresh thinking in helicopter tactics

MILAN — Air protection and drone warfare noticed in Ukraine are altering the character of army helicopter ways, transferring the platforms’ middle of gravity away from the tip of the spear to an emphasis on combat-support missions alongside the entrance strains, in accordance with officers and subject consultants.

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

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

He recalled the Russian emphasis on helicopters through the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Moscow’s troops had deliberate a large-scale touchdown operation, which finally 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 aspect. 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 modifications in ways and the introduction of latest weapons, specifically the LMUR (also called the Kh-39) air-to-surface missile, which supplies a larger stand-off vary, have had an impact,” Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for army aerospace at IISS advised 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 army planners.

“At Hostomel, we noticed Russian helicopters intervening nearly 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 advised 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 automobiles offering further “aero-combat motion and maneuver” to army choppers.

In accordance with Kuzan, the previous Ukrainian protection adviser, helicopters might quickly turn out to be built-in with unmanned forces, “utilizing their command management factors, highly effective communication relays or as a cell 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 might need to evolve in direction of stand-off weapons that enable the plane to intervene from a larger distance,” he mentioned on the Paris Air Discussion board.

Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris contributed to this report.