The Attack Helicopter Under Threat? - Vulnerabilities & Trends

[Weaver]

 The Attack Helicopter Under Threat? - Vulnerabilities & Trends by Perun and featuring The Chieftain.

I think this sums up the current debate about the future of the attack helicopter rather well:

My take: if I was a sub-US sized military power, I might not be scrapping my attack helo fleet just yet, but I might be thinking more than twice about investing a significant fraction of my defence budget into them in the future. It's not so much that they're "obsolete" yet, it's that they're looking increasingly "niche" and "not cost-effective" given their increasing vulnerability and the increasing ability of other systems to get the same effects at lower risk and cost.

[PR19_Kit]

Does the current fad for drones do such a good job at taking out tanks though?

[Weaver]

Does the current fad for drones do such a good job at taking out tanks though?

The question is for how long will attack helos be able to do that job?

1. Hard kill anti-drone-systems are by definition anti-helicopter systems too, so when they proliferate everywhere, which they'll have to, that automatically means that there's anti-helicopter systems everywhere too.

2. Being slow and short-ranged, attack helos depend on FARPs (Forward Arming and Refuelling Points) near the front line. These can now be spotted by everything from satellite to drones and targetting by TBMs (Tactical Ballistic Missiles) with cluster munition warheads in under 30 minutes. In fact one of the _first_ things Ukraine did with it's ATACMS was take out a Russian attack helo FARP.

With helo basing pushed back 100+ km from the front line for safety and increasing attrition by anti-drone/helo systems, it becomes a question of cost-effectiveness: do attack helos get you the best bang for your fixed defence budget buck, or would you be able to do more if you spent it on other things?

[Rick Lowe]

Does the current fad for drones do such a good job at taking out tanks though?

Depends on how far it needs to be 'taken out'... if you can just mess it up enough to have it back in the repair depot, it's not hassling your troops on the front line; which is almost as good as a kill.

There again, that's the old theory of the 'wounding vs. killing round' coming back again...