Russian Helicopters Acknowledge FPV Drone Threat, Announces Upgrades

Russian Helicopters, the country's primary manufacturer of military rotorcraft, has admitted that some of its helicopters have been brought down by first-person view (FPV) drones.

In a rare acknowledgment of vulnerability, the company revealed that it is working on solutions to combat this new type of threat.

At the Army-2024 Forum, a company representative told Defense Mirror, "We did not anticipate the widespread use of such drones when the conflict began two years ago. Our company is currently working on solutions to address this new type of threat." The upgrades aim to enhance the helicopters' defensive capabilities against unmanned aerial threats.

The statement highlights the growing role of drones in modern warfare. Military helicopters can counter FPV drone threats through various tactics, technology, and countermeasures, including electronic warfare, directed-energy weapons, kinetic countermeasures, maneuvering and evasion tactics, defensive aids suites, and collaborative defense strategies.

Related article: Are Helicopters Giving Way to Drones as Combat Platforms?

Existing solutions for helicopters to counter FPV drone threats include various electronic warfare systems and countermeasures, such as the AN/ALQ-211(V)4 Integrated Electronic Warfare Suite (IEWS), Leonardo's Miysis DIRCM, Airbus' Helicopter Air-to-Air Self-Protection (HASP) system, Elbit Systems' ReDrone, Northrop Grumman's M-ACE, Thales' C-UAS Solutions, Boeing's Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS), Saab's Giraffe 1X Radar, BAE Systems' RAVEN Counter-UAS, and Raytheon's Coyote Block 2+.