Did A Ukrainian Drone Just Shoot Down A $15 Million 12-Ton Russian Helicopter?

Summary

  • Ukrainian FPV drone downs Russian Mi-8 helicopter in first known drone-helicopter shoot down.
  • Ukrainian drone operators have been targeting Russian helicopters since September.
  • Ukrainians using over 100,000 explosive FPV drones monthly in war against Russia.

In July 2024, a video emerged on social media showing a Russian Mi-8 helicopter having a near-miss with a Ukrainian FPV drone that swooped in to attack it. The post taunted that the Russians would not be so lucky next time. Now, it is reported that a 2-pound Ukrainian FPV drone has successfully brought down a 12-ton Russian Mi-8 helicopter (acknowledging the fog of war; some reports claim it was brought down by friendly fire). The beleaguered Russian Air Force seems to have had a bad week with claims it has lost up to 10 aircraft (not all are confirmed, and the figure includes a Wagner loss in Africa).

The first helicopter shot down by a drone

On Wednesday, Forbes reported a small Ukrainian FPV quadcopter shot down a Russian helicopter seemingly for the first time. As of the time of writing (August 1), there are no videos of the shootdown circulating online, but there are images of the Russian Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter burning in Donetsk in occupied Ukraine. The videos apparently came from Russian sources.

Mil Mi 8 in Russian Air Force

Ukrainian drone operators have been trying to down Russian helicopters mid-flight since September. As the risk of Russians losing their valuable helicopters to pesty little Ukrainian drones has grown, Russia has begun to assign helicopter escorts for their helicopters. But it seems that 10 months of perceivence has finally paid off.

Forbes notes that it takes a huge amount of skill for drone operators to successfully target Russian helicopters that can fly over 150 miles per hour.However, according to the Voevoda vesicant Russian military Telegram channel, the drone caught the helicopter at its critical moment of weakness—at the moment of takeoff (this was later reinforced by a Ukrainian Telegram channel). Russian Mi-8s are used for attack, transport, and medevac missions.

Related

How An Ad-Hoc Group Of 80 Ukrainian Drone Operators Defended Kyiv Using WhatsApp

The Russian 6th Tank Regiment was defeated on its drive to Kyiv thanks in part to civilians operating their hobby drones.

An evolving drone war

The Forbes article also stated that the Ukrainians are using over 100,000 explosive FPV drones each month in the war against Russia. Ukraine has previously been reported to be aiming to train 20,000 drone operators this year, and it has recently moved to establish the world’s first ‘drone force’ service branch of the military.

While the age of dogfights between modern fighter jets may be over, the war in Ukraine is offering a completely new take on modern ‘dogfights.’ So far in this war, Yak-52 propeller trainers armed with machine guns have shot down drones World War II style, drones have been engaging in midair drone-on-drone combat, drones have claimed the world’s first 5th generation fighter jet kill in combat, and now drones have ‘shot down’ a military helicopter in perhaps their first such aerial victory.

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