The Ukrainian military successfully used helicopters to shoot down Russian Shahed one-way drones.

A video of the Mi-8’s combat performance was shared on the Sunflower Telegram channel, which is affiliated with Ukrainian aviation.

An Airbus H125 helicopter was also used to track the drone’s route.

The helicopters are equipped with satellite transmitters, digital communication systems, specialized aircraft searchlights and the Flir electronic optical system.

After receiving information about the air target from ground-based radars, the pair heads to the area. Once in the sky, the Airbus H125 detects the target with the help of electro-optical system, is escorted to a safe area together with the Mi-8, and then the Mi-8 shoots it down with its onboard weapons. It is impossible to do this immediately with the H125 because it does not have any weapons in the configuration and certification that Ukraine has received.

This resulted in the downing of the Shahed attack drone and subsequent detonation in the field.

The detonation of the downed UAV clearly demonstrates that even a downed Shahed poses a significant danger.

This is not the first time that helicopters have been used to counter enemy drones in the skies over Ukraine.

The active involvement of army aviation to intercept UAVs began in the summer of 2024.

This became possible because, after the Ukrainian military actively expanded the network of mobile fire groups that shot down drones with machine gun fire from the ground, the Russians began to use higher altitudes to fly UAVs in an attempt to avoid ground fire.

This made it possible to effectively engage army aviation to intercept targets at low, but no longer ultra-low, altitudes.

However, the successful use of helicopters depends on many factors, including crew training and timely detection of enemy air targets.

At the same time, intercepting targets with small arms also poses a threat to the helicopter crew. If a bullet fails to hit the combat unit of a kamikaze drone, it can detonate. And hit the helicopter with debris if it gets too close.