Posted on 08/30/2023 8:09:59 PM PDT by ganeemead
thank you...
I can only go by what I read.
Feb 3, 2023 — Russia had 1,543 military helicopters in its fleet, making it the second largest country for active combat helicopters in the world in that year...
Last year they added 225 more and are ramping up production this year.
Old information you are presenting. That is one of the bigger problems of this war. Russia is learning how to beat our systems.
The report says that guidance configuration makes the 9K121 Vikhr “look back” to the launching helicopter to “see” the laser guidance beam from the latter, making it almost impossible to jam in flight and cheaper than comparable models.
In terms of losses, Kyle Mizokami notes in a May 2023 Popular Mechanics article that at the time of his writing, Russia has lost 62 attack helicopters, with up to 30 Ka-52 helicopters downed, representing 30% of Russia’s entire fleet of the type.
Mizokami ascribes those losses to small arms fire, man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), and anti-aircraft guns, with attack helicopters lacking the speed of attack jets and the armor protection of tanks, making them vulnerable targets.
However, a combination of depleted Ukrainian air defenses and improving Russian tactics may have changed the situation in favor of Russian attack helicopters.
Jordan Cohen and Jonathan Ellis Allen noted in a February 2023 Cato Institute article that Ukraine succeeded in the air war early in the conflict by denying Russia air superiority using short-range air defense (SHORAD) systems.
However, Cohen and Allen mention that Russia has changed its approach, using relentless missile and drone attacks to force Ukraine’s previously undetectable mobile air defenses to reveal themselves by firing at numerous low-value targets, making themselves vulnerable targets, and wasting precious missile stocks.
Ukraine may be facing a shortage of SHORAD systems. In an April 2023 Center for Strategic and International Studies article, Mark Cancian notes that before the war, Ukraine only had a small number of SHORAD systems, which are most likely exhausted by now.
Although Cancian mentions that Ukraine has received large numbers of SHORAD systems from the US, France, Germany, and Poland, he says that US Joint Staff documents leaked that month show Ukraine has just 190 US-made Stinger missiles remaining, indicating lots of gaps in Ukraine’s frontline air defenses.
In an article this month, the Warzone notes that Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Hanna Malyar mentioned the threat posed by Russia’s air and artillery superiority to its ongoing counteroffensive.
https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-equipment.html
There are confirmed Russian losses of 104 helicopters, of which destroyed: 90, damaged: 12, captured: 2
Oryx is BS, where the entries are dubbed, mislabeled, or can’t be geolocated or otherwise attributed to the area and timeframe.
Here is one example of helicopter listed as damaged by a manpad even though there are no signs to it and it was damaged by own drop tank:
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1670808597184360455
That is what you see by clicking the Oryx link.
Even if the quarter of the entries are by a chance correct, that’s crickets for a war like this, especially given how the opposite side is mauled.
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