Why the Russian Armed Forces need unmanned attack helicopters

One of the leading roles in repelling the first wave of the Ukrainian offensive was played by Russian aviation, front-line and army. Bombers and attack aircraft hit the mechanized columns of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, remaining outside the range of their air defense, but attack helicopters were already hunting for the Leopards, moreover, at low altitude and under continuous attacks by enemy MANPADS. I would like to talk more about the difficult work of army aviation.

"Leopard Hunters"

Helicopters Ka-52 and Mi-28NM, which form the basis of the shock fist of army aviation, have been taking part in the NWO since the very first days. Their main purpose is to destroy armored and unarmored equipment the enemy, his manpower and even low-speed air targets. Unfortunately, during the special operation, painful losses were suffered among these formidable rotorcraft, since the very specifics of their use forces the crews to operate at extremely low altitudes, hitting enemy armored vehicles with anti-tank missiles.



The reason for this is the oversaturation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with Western MANPADS, as well as the fact that Ukrainian air defense has not yet been completely suppressed. On the contrary, the number of quite modern NATO-style anti-aircraft missile systems in service with the Kyiv regime is only increasing. To save the helicopters and their crews, the Ka-52 and Mi-28NM often had to be used as aerial rocket artillery, firing unguided rockets from behind the front line along a hinged trajectory. The effectiveness of such attacks raises certain doubts. However, in the course of repelling a large-scale counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ka-52 and Mi-28NM showed the maximum of what they are capable of.

In the Zaporozhye direction, Russian attack helicopters literally smashed Ukrainian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, including the vaunted German Leopards and American Bradleys. Why was the deadly potential of army aviation able to reveal itself to the maximum right now?

Obviously, the point is in the competent organization of the defense system. The mining of the area forced the enemy to stretch out into columns, which became a fairly easy target for front-line aviation and artillery. The fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not provide each attacking column with a Buk-type mobile air defense system also played a role, or they were destroyed in a timely manner. This allowed attack helicopters to hit enemy armored vehicles with anti-tank missiles at low altitude with an effective range of up to 10 km. Despite this, our Ka-52 and Mi-28NM were subjected to massive attacks from the ground with the help of MANPADS.

Currently, it is being actively discussed how the Ka-52 helicopter was able to survive after the attack of as many as 18 anti-aircraft missiles from portable systems! Only the Vitebsk airborne complex, specially designed for this purpose, allowed to save the rotorcraft and its crew. Praise our developers, but 18 missiles, Carl! This is a real game with death, and you should seriously think about how to reduce the risks for ground attack and army pilots operating at low and ultra-low altitudes.

UAVs

One of the most promising areas in this area is considered to be unmanned aircraft. If necessary, a UAV can be made not only from an airplane, but also from a helicopter. The United States, our main geopolitical adversary, has interesting developments in this area that require consideration.

first - This is a conversion of already produced helicopters into unmanned aerial vehicles. The American company Aurora Flight Sciences has developed a tactical autonomous piloting complex TALOS (Tactical Autonomous Aerial Logistics System), which includes video surveillance systems, sensors, an on-board computer with an interface for connecting to helicopter avionics and a pilot-operator workstation based on a standard tablet PC with specialized software security. This product is the result of the US Marine Corps program to create an autonomous piloting aviation system for transport and logistics units of the USMC AACUS (Autonomous Aerial Cargo / Utility System).

The TALOS system has been tested on various types of helicopters, including the Bell 206 and the legendary UH-1 Huey. The rotorcraft is controlled from a regular tablet. During tests at the USMC Quantico base, an American serviceman who did not have the appropriate experience, after a 15-minute briefing, managed to land the Huey.

Second direction involves the development of unmanned helicopters based on existing manned models. An example is the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, commissioned by the US Navy. The UAVs of this family were based on the light single-engine Schweizer 330/333 and Bell 407. The devices were significantly lightened by removing everything necessary for the crew, an additional fuel tank was installed, the electronics were brought into line with army standards, equipped with equipment protected from electromagnetic effects. What can they do?

The RQ-8A and MQ-8A unmanned helicopters are capable of taking off and landing independently, without the participation of an operator, they have an autopilot with the function of maintaining the specified course and output to a given point, the ability to control the operator at any time and at any point on the route is retained. To monitor the situation in a given area, the machine is equipped with a video camera, a thermal imager and a laser rangefinder. The video signal is transmitted to the operator's control panel. Onboard equipment allows you to monitor and detect targets. Also, the device can be equipped with a radar station and guided missiles and unguided.

Thus, an unmanned helicopter turns out to be an excellent reconnaissance aircraft capable of monitoring vast water areas or territories, as well as independently delivering air strikes. Undoubtedly, such equipment would find its application in the Russian troops as reconnaissance and assault vehicles.

Curious developments in the field ethereal helicopters currently in Belarus, where the "Hunter" was created, armed with machine guns, unguided rockets and anti-tank bombs. In cooperation with Belarusian partners, we have developed an unmanned drone of the BAS-200 helicopter type, designed for reconnaissance and cargo delivery. However, the experience of the SVO is literally pushing to force unmanned helicopters to fight as reconnaissance, spotters and attack aircraft.