Russians use helicopters to fight drones due to lack of air defense systems
Date: 2023-09-08 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
The Russian military command decided to form “special helicopter units” equipped with Mi-28 helicopters, which are not very suitable for real combat operations. The task of these units will be to fight unmanned aerial vehicles in the rear, where there are not enough ground-based air defense systems, Russian propagandists write.
“New units on Mi-28N helicopters are deployed in several regions of the country at once, their crews undergo special training to intercept drones at different times of the day and weather conditions,” the Military Informant telegram channel reports in particular.
As noted by the Ukrainian publication Defense Express, the cruising speed of these attack helicopters is 265 km/h, which theoretically allows them to chase drones that fly at speeds of up to 200 km/h. The onboard equipment of these vehicles also allows them to attack air targets not only with a 30-mm cannon, but also with infrared-guided guided missiles.
In total, the Russian Federation has up to a hundred Mi-28 helicopters of several modifications in service.
“We can assume that a significant part of these machines can now be used specifically for the task of intercepting our drones in the skies over the Russian Federation. Moreover, Russian propagandists themselves complain that the Mi-28N has shown its ineffectiveness when attempting to use guided missiles.” Whirlwind" in the war against Ukraine, mainly due to shortcomings in on-board equipment," the publication notes.
Ukrainian military analyst Alexander Kovalenko also notes that the Mi-28 is an extremely unsuccessful machine, so using it as a replacement for air defense is to a certain extent a “salvation” for the Russians.
“The funny thing is, the Russian command was prompted to this idea by the use of the Mi-28N against a drone in the Oryol region, where a helicopter with a 30-mm 2A42 tried to hit a UJ-22 Airborne drone with a dozen shooting shots, as well as the case when the Mi-28N, attention, drove (!!!) the drone away from the coast of Crimea. Driven away!!!" - the expert mocks the combat characteristics of the helicopter.
