The American observer believes that the helicopters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are in for big problems in the event of a war with Russia

In recent days, perhaps the most discussed topic in the world media has become a hypothetical war between Russia and Ukraine. It pushed even the Winter Olympics in Beijing into the background. Many analysts are busy comparing the forces of the parties. Although practically no one doubts that Russia is stronger than Ukraine, the authors are still tempted to analyze the state of the Ukrainian army.

For example, the Ukrainian army aviation "on paper" includes four aviation brigades with Mi-8 transport helicopters and Mi-24 combat helicopters. But only about 30 helicopters of each type are capable of daily combat activities. This number is enough, at best, for half of the declared number of brigades, writes David Ax of Forbes magazine.

As an American observer notes, Ukrainian helicopter forces may not last long in combat. Thus, the 11th, 12th, 16th and 18th separate brigades of army aviation are registered with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Of these, the 11th brigade is located in the south of Ukraine, the 12th and 16th brigades are in the west of the country, and only one 18th brigade is deployed east of the Dnieper.

At the same time, only the 11th and 16th brigades of army aviation are fully equipped with equipment. Each of them has an operating fleet of 10 Mi-24s and 15 Mi-8s. But there is more interesting data from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies: only 15 Mi-24s and 23 Mi-8s remain for the other two brigades. Of course, it's better than it was eight years ago. The Ukrainian military department removed old Soviet helicopters from the warehouse and tried to put them in order.

Ukrainian helicopters participated in joint exercises with US troops. Ukraine also provided helicopters to the UN peacekeeping forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Air operations in the Congo made it possible to increase the level of combat training of helicopter crews.

However, if the Russian army, the American analyst writes, invades the territory of Ukraine, helicopters will immediately become a vulnerable target for hundreds of modern air defense systems of the Russian armed forces. Theoretically, Ukrainian Mi-24s will provide close air support tank and infantry battalions, while Mi-8 helicopters will land paratroopers, resupply forward units and help evacuate the wounded.

But this is a theory. In reality, the helicopters of the Ukrainian army aviation are in for big problems in the event of a war between Ukraine and Russia. He may not be able to complete any of the listed missions, at least for a long time. Russia has a developed air defense system that will easily destroy most of the Ukrainian helicopter fleet almost immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, says David Ax.

Comments

[ancestors from Don]

The Mi-8 is certainly a good car, but it is not suitable for a quick evacuation, we can offer the Mi-26 in the form of goodwill, the rest grab the chassis.

[Alexander 3]

I can offer the crew to take the entire cargo of this helicopter far out to sea.

[mojohed2012]

They can take everyone to Russia along a predetermined route and place.

[Alexander 3]

Feed them later, it's better to let them feed the fish.

[mojohed2012]

Yes, but if 1,2,3 of these helicopters with crews and soldiers voluntarily desert to Russia, then it is possible that someone's life / lives will be saved than if these units would fulfill orders as intended.

[Alexander 3]

Not everyone in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is fascist. If hostilities begin with Russia, I think the Armed Forces of Ukraine will themselves deal with Bandera.

[mojohed2012]

If it will be as you write - there is hope.

[Alexander 3]

Earlier, VO already wrote that there were already skirmishes between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and bandera gangs on the front line.

[mojohed2012]

It was. But that is only unconfirmed insiders and rare real cases.
After all, ordinary Russian guys and adult men were driven into the trenches by mobilizations, and the Bendera people were put behind a fence.
And behind the Bendera detachments sit PMCs from different countries.
Respectively. If simple VSUshniks run or hit the Benderites, and they run, PMCs will start shooting them to show those who are looking at the fleeing that flight is a one-way exit.
and the news on the "front" will disperse in a swoop. And can we then expect real reprisals against national patriots?
It is known that the entire South-East has long been sick of Benderites, Raguls and Westerners of all stripes, see their rotten Bandera chants, scraps of false propaganda and so on. But the people for the most part, like everywhere else, are amorphous, no one really wants to risk not just themselves, but their relatives and friends in case of failure.

[Crash]

Quote: mojohed2012

behind Bendera detachments

Quote: mojohed2012

hit on Bendera

Do you mean Ostap Bender?

the word Bendera does not exist in Russian at all - neither as the names of the inhabitants of the city of Bendery, nor as the names of the followers of Stepan Bandera (correctly: Bandera). There is an adjective Benderovsky (with an accent on the first syllable), meaning "relating to Ostap Bender (literary character)". Therefore, it is possible to form the word Bendera, meaning the followers of Ostap Bender, but the stress in this word will be on the first syllable

[abrakadabre]

Respectively. If simple VSUshniks run or hit the Benderites, and they run, PMCs will start shooting them to show those who are looking at the fleeing that flight is a one-way exit.
and the news on the "front" will disperse in a swoop. And can we then expect real reprisals against national patriots?

In this case, everything is decided by the number of barrels and cartridges. To turn the Armed Forces of Ukraine back to our side, detachments must be of comparable firepower. Otherwise, with common love and awe in front of them, they will arrange a bloodbath. Because there will be nothing to lose. And the number of PMCs for sustainable retention in such a situation is completely insufficient. And they are not designed to withstand large units. Albeit demoralized. And they don't subscribe to it.

[Andrei Nikolaevich]

It is enough for him to fly to Lvov. And there is the border. Europe. You can and ,, to parYzhu on kava ,,)

[Thrifty]

Ninety percent of these helicopters will be flown by the crews to Russia themselves!

[Letun]

Quote: Thrifty

Ninety percent of these helicopters will be flown by the crews to Russia themselves!

Was a poll conducted among Ukrainian pilots?

[1976AG]

Quote: Ancestors from the Don

The Mi-8 is certainly a good car, but it is not suitable for a quick evacuation, we can offer the Mi-26 in the form of goodwill, the rest grab the chassis.

So the Mi-26 will be evacuated to the territory of Russia, and they are unlikely to like it.

[paul3390]

For some reason, it seems to me that the helicopters of the Ukrainian army aviation are in for big problems even without any war with Russia... And without us, they are doing an excellent job with the final destruction of the inheritance inherited from the damned Bolsheviks ...

[ancestors from Don]

Do you think the crooked hands of the mechanics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or the low-quality fuel drained from the DT-75? Remembering them and from RPGs felled in 2014 is not bad.

[kot423]

Quote: paul3390

And without us, they are doing an excellent job with the final destruction of the inheritance inherited from the damned Bolsheviks

So they put it into operation by cannibalism, and this is a dead poultice - to put a half-dead spare part of shaggy years of production instead of a completely dead one ... Therefore, IMHO, the dangers from them - like from a hammer, are more for dill than for us.

[Paranoid50]

Quote: paul3390

helicopters of the Ukrainian army aviation are waiting for big problems without any war with Russia ..

The war with Russia will allow them to die quickly and without pain.
If the air defense forces of the LDNR in 2014-15 hit a whole park in a short period, then everything with a trident on the keel will crumble even more here.

[Stepan S]

BUT if you listen to Ukrainian experts, deputies, representatives of the army, then the Russian army does not have a single chance for a successful operation against Ukraine. They swear about it on every TV screen, and repeat it like a prayer.

[mojohed2012]

And they prove intransigence and determination: shots of people with wooden machine guns, pictures of mothers with big guns in the kitchens, Bendera yelling and shouting in remembrance of Putin, the creation of a bunch of motley formations with no obvious goals for use at the moment ...

[TerraSandera]

Did you understand a lot at 14? The Russians, the Russian speakers, fought from the Nikolaev, Odessa, Kharkov and other regions, and the separatists shouted, we will kill, etc. And now, after 8 years of brainwashing, will they figure it out? Don't be so naive.

[TermNachTer]

On mobilization they drove, there was not much choice. Or in the army, or in prison, so you don't need to treat everyone with the same brush.

[TerraSandera]

Those who were "chased" first with mortars, then d30, acacia, carnation, msta, MLRS Grad, hurricane, Slavyansk were shot, then a tornado, point U, aviation, is this all "by mobilization"? Sorry, but the right sector, which brought down all our media and the National Guard, none of the above, except perhaps mortars, should not have been, at the beginning. And further, they trophies something that they themselves collected. And who shot all these cities with aircraft, starting with the DAP? Right sector? Nazis? Or just soldiers following their orders? There were videos of how they bravely filmed, shot in our direction, and then, after the boilers, they pretended to be "mobilized" And this suited the official picture. All the more surprising was how they switched to more and more heavy weapons, which led to more and more casualties, including the civilian population. Yes, there may have been UNITS who, in principle, were not interested in this, and they got there by accident, not having time to fall over the hill, to hide (and those who wanted to, managed, managed a lot). But the rest, on their videos, appealed to the authorities not to why do they need this war, and to the fact that they either didn’t give them normal uniforms, or they have old Soviet weapons that don’t shoot, or some other kind of evil. Sorry, but if you don’t want to fight, then you basically don’t care what kind of weapon there is, 48g or 65g. And so it was on the vast majority of videos from that side.

[TermNachTer]

Lots of letters and very little meaning. After mobilization, people were driven into the army, they went to the national gangs for money, on their own. And in the army there were creatures who, for an asterisk on the chase or a trinket, were ready to kill "peaceful", as were those who did not shoot. A very difficult problem is why the Army refused to carry out the orders of the legally elected Yanyk, but ran to carry out the orders of the freaks who committed the coup d'etat "jumping out of their pants."

[TerraSandera]

Clearly, solid clichés from the TV, and nothing to confirm the speculation. This is where we end, since there are a lot of letters.

[TermNachTer]

I actually live in Ukraine and watched all this up close. There are many reasons and all of them are very difficult. However, if you remain with your opinion, then this is your right, I never imposed my opinion on anyone.

[75 Sergey]

Well, actually, everyone will have problems and oh-oh-very big

[ancestors from Don]

Nonsense, no one in the United States is going to burn their dollars in this stove, especially because of Ukraine. 2/3 of the US population do not even know where this "beauty" is on the track of the globe.

[Kerensky]

says David Ax.

Settled normally. The equipment will run out, the field kitchens will recount, - another article. Telephone sets in the headquarters - again a fee from Forbes. Will not sleep hungry.

[Vladimir 290]

That is, as I understand it, the president needs to take a new loan and buy American helicopters, they are democratic, they are not afraid of air defense, so there will be no problems

[Cetron]

So a few years ago there was news that the "Chinooks" would do it, they would burn everything in Almaty, 2014 would seem like pampering ...

[voyaka uh]

If there are a lot of MANPADS on the ground, then all helicopters will have problems.

[Raw238]

The Ukrainian military department withdrew old Soviet helicopters from the warehouse and tried to put them in order every word is an anecdote

[Sands Careers General]

The American observer believes that the helicopters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are in for big problems in the event of a war with Russia

Come on, what problems, there are no problems, the Sumerian "gwent-wings" chi "helicopters" themselves will fall

[TermNachTer]

The following can be added to the above. All this is rubbish, from long-term storage, which has stood for 20-30 years on the street, at best wrapped in a tarpaulin. The engines are most likely new - "Motor Sich". The gearbox after the capital, "Motor" mastered the repair of gearboxes for the Mi - 8 and Mi - 24. The blades are also possible. "Motor" has also mastered the blades, but the pace of production is still - barely - barely. A lot of marriage, felts Chinese blanks, felts clumsy handles. But then, a complete strife begins - as a protection against air defense systems, only an EVA, which no longer helps with new heads, with matrix cooling. But it worsens aerodynamics and reduces engine power. Devices for shooting IR traps are attached to the tail boom with clamps. There are 10-12 IR cartridges there, that is, enough for somewhere for a minute of intensive setting. An IR lamp for moving missiles away from the engines is placed very interestingly - at the base of the tail boom. In the event of a hit, both the engine and the shaft to the tail rotor may suffer. This is so, in passing, without going deep, that is, we wish Banderaffen "creative Uzbeks."

[Fedorovich]

There will be no problems - no aviation, no problems ...

[Alexfly]

For some reason, it seems to me that many NATO helicopters are also expecting problems when participating in the confrontation ..