Ukrainian soldiers on Mi-8 helicopter destroy Russian Shahed drones to save valuable anti-aircraft missiles

A Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter shot down a Russian Shahed combat drone with a forward-mounted machine gun located in the nose of the aircraft, says Militarnyi. The Russian Shahed-type attack UAV was detected at a low altitude over water. A Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter was deployed to intercept it. A crew member of the aircraft used a 7.62mm machine gun mounted in the nose turret to hit the drone, as per the KARYMAT Telegram channel. A direct hit caused the Russian Shahed to explode, preventing it from reaching its intended target. Earlier, another video was released showing a Mi-24P combat helicopter destroying Russian drones. The footage shows it firing a twin-barrel 30mm GSh-30K cannon during nighttime. However, the video does not reveal whether the enemy aerial target was successfully hit in the Ukrainian sky or not, according to Breeze channel. The time and location of the footage remain unknown. Using helicopters to intercept Russian attack drones can be effective, but successful interception depends on several factors, including crew training and the timely detection of enemy aerial targets. This approach can save anti-aircraft missiles. However, helicopter use is limited as they must operate over uninhabited areas, particularly rivers, reservoirs, or the sea, to avoid endangering civilian objects and populations. Recently, Ukrainian Defense Forces began using FPV drones to shoot down Russian reconnaissance UAVs in Ukrainian airspace. The speed of the drone, used as a kamikaze interceptor, is sufficient to hit and destroy the Russian reconnaissance drone, which flies at a relatively low speed.

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