The video was shared on November 16. The helicopters belonged to the Central Military District, the largest of Russia’s five military districts in terms of geographical size at 7,060,000 square kilometers – 40% of Russian territory. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement accompanying the video that Ka-52 and Mi-24 helicopter pilots operate in mixed pairs to increase strike potential. Two helicopters destroy Ukrainian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) using guided and unguided missiles. “The crew of the Ka-52 and Mi-24 make stealth approaches to targets at extremely low altitudes. “The helicopter pilots are firing anti-aircraft missiles from their position to increase the scope of the destruction,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. Since April, Russian helicopter gunships have been known to rely primarily on unguided missiles for attacks on known Ukrainian positions behind Russian fronts. Typically, Russian helicopters would approach a target area at altitudes of less than 60 meters and then climb between 15 and 30 degrees and launch S-8 and S-13 unguided missiles in high ballistic arcs, which allows the helicopter crew to remain back. the Russian front lines, where the threat from Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) is somewhat less. Russian media released more footage of Ka-52 activity over eastern Ukraine, note the use of S-8 unguided rockets fired in a ballistic arc pic.twitter.com/ISQisZZ9Dq — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 29, 2022 However, strike accuracy using these tactics is typically poor, just enough to force Ukrainian forces in the field to take cover or fix dug-in units in place until the strikes subside, according to a recent study for the Russian Air Force War in Ukraine, conducted by the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). In Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, particularly the Donbass, Ka-52s and Mi-24s regularly carry out such raids at night to keep Ukrainian troops on their toes. File image: Ka-52 Alligator
The Ka-52s were forced into action by Russia
The Ka-52 “Alligator” is one of Russia’s primary ground attack platforms in its military campaign in Ukraine alongside its fleet of Su-34 bombers. The Alligator is considered one of the best attack helicopters in the world. The Ka-52 has better optics, night vision devices and precision missiles than other Russian gun helos such as the Mi-24/35 Hind and Mi-28 Havok. Russian Air Force Mil Mi-24P (Wikipedia) Also, the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) assigned the Ka-52 to support Russian special operations forces, particularly at night. A much larger portion of the Ka-52 crew was probably trained in low-level night operations. The superior training of Ka-52 crews made them indispensable to Russian military planners in the first weeks of the invasion of Ukraine to support Russian brigades marching towards Kyiv to destroy the Ukrainian government and force the Ukrainian armed forces to surrender. However, the deep penetration strikes resulted in heavy losses for the Russian Ka-52 fleet. The Ukrainians shot down several of these Ka-52s using short-range, infrared-guided MANPADS. While the Russian air force’s suite of defense aids including missile approach warning sensors and countermeasures delivery systems were reasonably effective throughout the ongoing war, there were too many MANPADS to avoid! #Ukraine: New footage shows the moment one of the Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters takes off – throwing heat flares trying to avoid MANPADS fire and simultaneously in the background the second Ka-52 crashes to the ground. pic.twitter.com/B9xFcuARB6 — 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 22, 2022 The sheer number of MANPADS launched at Ka-52s during deep penetration strikes ensured that many of them were shot down. There were also several cases in early March and even later, when the focus of the war shifted to Donbas, where Russian helicopters failed to release flares when engaged with MANPADS, according to interviews conducted by RUSI experts. In addition, Ukrainian forces reportedly used the British Starstreak anti-tank missile and the US Javelin anti-tank missile (used in direct attack mode), which were particularly effective against all Russian helicopters as they are not fooled by flares or countermeasures. After suffering heavy losses and the humiliating retreat from Kyiv in April, the Russian rotational crew appeared reluctant to operate behind Ukrainian front lines. This resulted in a significant reduction in the number of deep penetration strikes and hunter-killer sorties across all gunship fleets after April, the report said.
Does the helicopter crew prefer unguided missiles?
In addition to using unguided rockets, Russian Ka-52s use the 9K121 Vikhr laser-guided anti-tank missiles to deliver precision strikes while remaining behind Russian front lines. However, there is a downside to this. Russian Ka-52 operations in eastern Ukraine. Equipped with 2 B8V20A missile pods and 4 Vikhir ATGMs, VKS forces continue to rely on stand-off range-launched unguided missiles. pic.twitter.com/dK8BPYybC6 — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 23, 2022 The Vikhr ATGM is based on a laser beam guidance system with a seeker mounted on the back of the projectile facing backwards rather than in the nose of the projectile, which is usually the case with laser seekers. Thus, the Vikhr looks back at the helicopter to follow the laser guidance beam instead of a laser spot reflected from the target, which makes in-flight engagement almost impossible, but also forces the Ka-52 to maintain a fixed position until the missile hits the target. #Ukraine: Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter successfully hits a BDRM-2 armored car of Ukrainian forces with a 9K121 Vikhr ATGM. pic.twitter.com/UUzIvljwdB — 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 10, 2022 This makes them an easy target for Ukrainian MANPADS snipers nearby. Therefore, even after abandoning deep penetration operations, Ka-52s are at risk of being shot down. Whereas, in the case of unguided missiles, Russian helicopters can immediately move away after firing all their missiles without even crossing their front lines, which would explain why the Russian helicopter crew prefers to use unguided missiles.
The Russian Ka-52 fleet has suffered the most
In total, the Russian military has lost at least 27 Ka-52 helicopters, of which six were destroyed on the ground and one was destroyed in a non-combat related incident, according to the latest figures compiled by military monitoring blog Oryx based on visuals confirmations. This is more than the combined losses of the Mi-24/35 Hind and Mi-28 Havok fleets of 10 and 9, respectively. A Russian Air Force Mi-28N (Wikipedia) The Ka-52 fleet has seen more intensive use than the other types of gunships. Also, the Ka-52’s armor is inadequate compared to other Russian attack helicopters, particularly the engine compartments, which lack armor plating – leaving them potentially vulnerable to damage even from small arms fire. Before invading Ukraine, the Russian military was known to have around 100 Ka-52s, but after losing 27 of them nine months later, the Russian Ka-52 fleet has lost more than a quarter of its strength. It is also important to remember that the actual number of losses may be higher.
