According to the Ukrainian Air Force, russia has lost at least 5 Ka-52 attack helicopters since June 16, 2023. Military-political expert Oleksandr Kovalenko states that due to a shortage of artillery in the combat zone, the russian command actively use helicopters.
He noted that in the past 2 months, this shortage has reached critical levels: in May, the russian Armed Forces suffered a record number of artillery losses, with 553 units were destroyed. As of June 20, 414 units have already been eliminated.
Read more: russia Loses Ka-52 Helicopters, And It's Important for Ukraine's Counteroffensive
“The russian command is unable to compensate for the artillery losses, even with the deployment of old Soviet howitzers. We can see how the russian Armed Forces have been deploying more attack helicopters to the south and using them as a substitute for artillery. Consequently, russian helicopters are forced to operate in close proximity to potential risk zones and are vulnerable to anti-aircraft defense systems or can fall within the range of mobile anti-aircraft missile systems,” Oleksandr Kovalenko said.
The expert claims that dealing with helicopters is more challenging than dealing with artillery, but on the other hand, they are not as numerous and their cost category is entirely different.
The cost of the Ka-52combat helicopter, varies depending on the modification, ranging from $16 million to $20 million. So, by conservative estimates, the helicopter fleet of the Armed Forces of russia was depleted by $80 million in June alone. In comparison, the cost of a modernized self-propelled artillery unit like the 2S19 Msta-S is approximately $1.6 million or 10 times less than the Ka-52 helicopter.
Read more: Ukraine’s Armed Forces' CinC Inspected Troops on Most Difficult Directions of russia-Ukraine War Frontline (Video)
