Apache vs Drones: US Tests, Israel Already Shooting Down Shaheds

The US Army’s main helicopter for destroying armored vehicles, the Apache, has demonstrated new capabilities in countering drone threats.

During the demonstration, the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter successfully detected, tracked and intercepted air targets in difficult conditions using various types of ammunition, the Pentagon reports.

The test arsenal included Hellfire Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGMs), Hydra-70 missiles with the Advanced Precision Kill Warhead (APKWS), which hit three of the four targets, and 30mm non-contact fuzed rounds.

“This was about testing our capabilities and ensuring that the Apache remains a vital asset in today’s combat scenarios,” the US representatives stated.

This is not the first time the Apache has demonstrated its ability to neutralize drones. During military exercises in Saudi Arabia in October 2024, AH-64 used modernized Hellfire missiles to destroy a drone.

In this way, the US Army is trying to demonstrate Apache as a fast, flexible, and cost-effective platform for fighting UAVs on modern battlefields.

“An Apache attack helicopter with a trained and equipped crew is the most adaptable weapon system on the battlefield. The limiting factor is the amount of investment the Army is making in crew training and ammunition integration,” the US officials said.

The United States is not the only one integrating anti-aircraft capabilities into its helicopters.

Apache vs Shahed

Israeli AH-64A Peten helicopters are already being used in combat for air defense, in particular to shoot down Iranian Shahed drones. Helicopters are alerted even before the drones approach Israel’s borders.

Back in 2018, the Israeli military reported that an Iranian drone similar to the modern Shahed had been shot down from an Apache. “It took only a minute and a half from the moment the UAV entered Israeli airspace to its destruction,” the IDF said in a statement.

To destroy drones, AH-64A Peten helicopters use 30-mm M230E-1 cannons with a rate of fire of 625 rounds per minute.

Ukrainian experience

Recently, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that since August 2024, Ukrainian army aviation has destroyed more than 3,200 Russian Shahed drones.

“The army aviation has proven itself very well: helicopters with machine guns have shown high efficiency. It is an impressive figure – more than 3,200 drones shot down in just one year,” he emphasized.

For this purpose, Soviet Mi-8 helicopters equipped with rapid-fire machine guns, including FN MAG 7.62 mm caliber, which were used by the Ukrainian military to shoot down drones back in 2014, are used.

In 2023, the Russian army also began using its Mi-28N attack helicopters against drones attacking targets in Russia.