While the russian federation calls the strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the airfield in the temporarily occupied Berdyansk the most serious of all time, it is quite possible to estimate exactly how many helicopters were at this base.
In particular, there are high resolution satellite images dated September 29 of this year on the network. More than 20 helicopters are recorded on them, among which it is possible to identify mostly Ka-52 attack helicopters. All aircraft are located in the eastern part of the airfield on the runway and taxiways.
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The latest public and available satellite image by Sentenel dated October 15, although it has a rather poor resolution, allows us to notice the placement of more than 20 objects at the airfield near Berdyansk. Their location in the same places allows us to confidently say that we are talking about the same helicopters.
That is, in the event of a truly effective strike, the Armed Forces of Ukraine could inflict more than powerful simultaneous losses on the enemy's army aviation. Given that 317 enemy helicopters were hit during the entire full-scale war, destroying more than 20 units on the ground in one strike represents a one-time destruction of 6% of the previous number.
Finally, the question remains, whether ATACMS could be used for the attack, that the enemy is actively complaining about. In theory, yes, because according to one of the most pragmatic scenarios, the transfer of ATACMS might not involve an additional public announcement - just as the transfer of AGM-88 HARM or Storm Shadow missiles was not announced before. As practice shows, the main guarantee of the effectiveness of strikes is their unexpectedness for the enemy.
It can also be said in favor of this that the most logical target for ATACMS, especially in the cluster version, should be the advanced airfields of the enemy. This will allow not only to destroy the helicopters, but also to force the enemy to relocate them away from the front line. In particular, against the background of such strikes, the russians will be forced to withdraw their aviation beyond the range of ATACMS. It will mean, at the very least, a significant decrease in effectiveness of the combat helicopters, as well as in a number of sorties per day.
But the fact is that the distance to the airfield in Berdyansk from the current front line is 95 km. Such a range is quite achievable for some types of missile weapons that are already available for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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