Knights of the Air Littoral – Equipping Helicopters for the Drone-Dominated Battlespace

Knights of the Air Littoral – Equipping Helicopters for the Drone-Dominated Battlespace

11 Sep 24
Posted by: OC Thomas Bartlett
21 minutes, 9 seconds read
Message from the Editor

In our third article from the BRNC Pellew Division, the author considers the Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) options available to protect helicopters against First Person View (FPV) drones and the loitering munitions that now saturate the modern battlespace, and what offensive options might yet enable rotary aviation to turn the tables. A 20 minute read.

It is far from revolutionary to point out the vulnerability of rotary wing aircraft in modern warfare, both at sea and over land. With that in mind, recent events in Ukraine involving the downing of both an Mi-8 Hip[1] and an Mi-28 Havoc[2] aircraft by First Person View (FPV) drone seem merely the latest thorn on the tangled bramble of threats facing a helicopter on operations.[3] Some have suggested these events to be an anachronism driven by a lack of dedicated anti-aircraft weaponry, and there may be some truth to this assertion, but I highly doubt this will remain the case for long. There…

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