The sound of attack helicopters and supporting special mission helicopters is terrifying. It causes confusion, depletes morale, and forces ground commanders to guess and second-guess their decisions in both offensive and defensive operations. Once those sounds are associated by the Russian conscripts with Ukrainian missile, cannon, and rocket fire along with Ukrainian special mission helicopters executing a wide range of special missions, it would cause further confusion and likely unanswerable problems for Russian commanders. Combined, these aircraft and mission profiles become a powerful tool for Ukrainian commanders while fighting Russian commanders ill-equipped to understand.
With Russian advances in stalemate, their long-range artillery and armored formations are now exposed to new and more capable NATO-provided Ukrainian ground systems. This included advanced radars to strike all Russian artillery and armored forces with more lethality and precision. It also includes capable unmanned aerial systems or drones. The Russians are attempting to change tactics by removing troops and equipment further away from the front lines and place a greater emphasis on longer-range missile fire and attack drones. These changes and reliance on centralized control signify their continued failure and exacerbates their vulnerability to potential Ukrainian aviation assets.
How can the Ukrainians capitalize on Russia’s culmination with attack and special mission helicopters? Ukraine has, albeit a limited amount of, trained helicopter pilots flying 1980s technology-equipped Mi-24 attack helicopters and Mi-8 transport helicopters, with an estimated 30 helicopters in the entire fleet. These pilots, like the daring crew who attacked the Belgorod fuel depot in April of 2022, have shown talent, grit, and willingness to accept these types of missions. Unlike the request for F-16s, which some believe will further turn up the nuclear rhetoric of Vladimir Putin, helicopters are less internationally emblematic. The United States and other NATO members have large inventories of exceptionally capable attack and transport helicopters.
Available assets that could turn the tide in favor of Ukraine are US-made AH-64 Apache and AH-1Z Cobras to recently retired OH-58D Kiowa Warriors and AH-1W Super Cobras. NATO partners have the European-made Eurocopter Tiger along with a long list of aircraft capable of delivering Hellfire and other advanced long-range missiles. They include armed Bell 407s, Eurocopter EC-120/135, A-Stars even aged MBB BO-105 outfitted with a capable anti-tank missile to fill this role. They all can be easily equipped with night vision and FLIR technologies and fitted with long-range precision-guided missiles. This is the same for special missions and troop-carrying utility helicopters. NATO has a wide range of such aircraft, and the US has sold and licensed multiple variants of the dependable and capable Sikorsky H-60 Blackhawk.
A Closer Look at the Mi-24 Hind
Lastly, there are also Russian-built Mi-35s and Mi-17s operated by NATO and partner nations. Those are modernized versions of the Mi-24 and Mi-8. They were designed and sold by Russia, both aircraft would be familiar to Ukrainian pilots and ground maintenance crews. Training to fly and maintain any of these platforms is critical. This includes Ukrainian leaders and aircrews experiencing a mindset shift in how they employ these aircraft. These are not simple weapons designed to be tossed onto the battlefield haphazardly. Instead, these are highly trained crews serving a strategic role in the defense of Ukraine.
These next several months are critical in Ukraine. The defending Ukrainians can and should impose their will on the invading Russian forces through disruptive operations at multiple locations and times to refocus Russian surface-to-air, armored, and intelligence capabilities. Forcing the Russians to be reactive and defensive while dependent on a centralized control system greatly impacts their mobility and ability to attack and defend, and it destroys Russian morale.
Attack and specialized helicopters are one of the most effective aviation tools available to a Nation and a commander at war. Helicopters operating in small formations, day and night, elusive of traditional ground radars, are able to strike deep into enemy territory and achieve immediate impacts on the morale and capability of enemy forces.
A Ukrainian strategy that includes helicopter aviation is not the only answer, but it is a favorable answer that optimizes this Ukrainian counteroffensive. It will impact Russian commanders’ ability to react while causing them hesitation to exploit any gaps in the Ukrainian armed force’s capability. Russia remains alone and unsupported on the world stage through its unethical, immoral, and illegal activities in Ukraine.
The Russian president is isolated, likely frustrated, and clearly desperate for a victory that will never come due to an exhausted, decimated, and demoralized Russian army. The Russian president alone has crippled his economy and wiped out a generation of Russian youth. As the Russian generals adjust their defensive lines in this Ukrainian counteroffensive, the potent and effective use of helicopters may be exactly what brings this war to an end. Those same assets will also be needed to preserve the peace.
A post-war world in Ukraine will need to be defended, and an advanced helicopter force needs to be part of this plan. There will be new borders to be patrolled, sanctions to be enforced, and promises to be honored.
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A native Californian, Colonel Eric “Ferris” Buer, USMC (Ret), spent his formative years in rural New England before graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University with a degree in economics. After accepting a commission from the Marine Corps, he was trained to fly attack helicopters. His deployments took him to the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He commanded in combat, served on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, as a professor of national security strategy at the National War College, and as an air group commanding officer. Eric is currently a senior executive for an aviation and training company. He is also a consultant and public speaker in the areas of military and commercial aviation and global conflict.
He is the author of the bestselling book Ghosts of Baghdad: Marine Corps Gunships on the Opening Days of the Iraq War, which you can purchase here.
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