Ukrainian Defense Forces use a variety of means — from mobile air defense groups to electronic warfare equipment — to counter russian decoy drones or long-range loitering munitions, primarily those of the iranian Shahed family.
One of the less popular and rarely mentioned methods is dispatching helicopters to intercept the targets. New footage surfaced on social networks shows how it happens with two Mi-8 helicopters involved at once: one tracking the target from a distance, and the other engaging.
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Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the drone is shot down outside a settlement. The operators comment that the destroyed Shahed fell "in a safe place with detonation," namely in a forest. Then, the crew members recorded the coordinates so that explosive ordnance disposal technicians could later pick up and secure the remnants.
All in all, this video demonstrates that hunting down Shaheds from helicopters is quite a difficult and resource-consuming process.
Worth noting, the first records of Ukrainian Army's rotorcraft aviation contributing to the destruction of enemy long-range killer drones appeared 1.5 years since the onset of russian invasion, in late July 2024, mentioned in a report from the Ukrainian Air Force Command. By August, the Ukrainian military shared first footage of helicopter pilots hunting down russian Shaheds, demonstrating a Mi-8 crew member destroying the russian-iranian drone with a machine gun.
Наши ебашат по шахедам pic.twitter.com/irYXuE8NwF— НОСТРАДАМУС ТАВРИЧЕСКИЙ (@NOSTRAD90772201) August 22, 2024
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