BEC vs. helicopters: so, have we waited? Or not yet?
BEC-kamikaze as an unsolved problem
When the Russian special military operation in Ukraine began, no one could have imagined that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) would be able to resist the Black Sea the fleet Navy of the Russian Federation (Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy).
How is that possible? Russia has mighty frigates and corvettes, submarines, the cruiser Moskva, the “unsinkable aircraft carrier” Crimea, while Ukraine has a couple of rusty tubs and small-sized artillery boats? Everyone was expecting if not a landing on the coast of Odessa, then a complete blockade of Ukraine from the sea.
But then the first cases of the use of Ukrainian unmanned kamikaze boats (UCB) equipped with American Starlink satellite communications systems appeared, and the attitude towards them was ambiguous: some immediately assessed the threat, while others, as usual, engaged in the fascinating process of boasting.
The author first wrote about the threat posed by the BEC kamikaze in May 2023 in an article With the delay of the NMD, the destruction of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy by Ukrainian naval drones is just a matter of time. We subsequently returned to this issue several times; links to articles on the topic are attached at the end of this material.
The further development of events, I think, is known to everyone. If the author were asked who currently holds the initiative in the Black Sea, priority would undoubtedly be given to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, since it is the Ukrainian Armed Forces that conduct offensive operations, and we are looking for ways to defend ourselves against them. As sad as it may sound, we must acknowledge the reality - sticking your head in the sand is only good for a cartoon ostrich.
However, now we are not talking about the threat that kamikaze submarines pose to surface ships and coastal facilities, but about how they decided to fight them and what consequences this led to.
The Russian Armed Forces decided to fight the BEK kamikaze with the help of combat helicopters.
"Vertical" vs. BEC
It was immediately clear that the idea was so-so: helicopters are not a very economical solution for patrolling over water surfaces, although they are more economical, for example, than using combat aircraft such as the Su-30SM, Su-35 or Su-34 for this purpose.
With the constant use of helicopters, the risks of failure and subsequent landing/falling into water increase significantly, with the corresponding consequences for the crew - by the way, such cases have already occurred.
In addition, it has been clear for a long time that the enemy would try to counteract Russian combat helicopters hunting for BEK-kamikazes – it was not even hidden, Ukrainian sources were bragging about BEK-kamikazes equipped with machine gun turrets and rockets air-to-air, adapted for surface application.
Footage from a video of a battle between a Russian Ka-29 helicopter and a Ukrainian kamikaze BEK, which attempted to launch a surface-to-air missile (a modified air-to-air missile), but missed and was destroyed by machine gun fire
We discussed all of this in detail in the article from April 25, 2024. Helicopters against Ukrainian unmanned boats and kamikaze UAVs: a temporary solution with high risks.
In this article, we examined the advantages and disadvantages, risks and feasibility of using combat helicopters to hunt kamikaze drones, as well as ways to replace them with alternative solutions.
“The use of combat helicopters to search for and destroy kamikaze BEKs with modules with small-caliber rapid-fire automatic cannons and/or anti-tank missiles integrated into their design may become too risky and lead to unjustified losses <...>
<...> the use of combat helicopters and attack aircraft for the search and destruction of kamikaze UAVs and kamikaze BEKs is a temporary measure, both from the point of view of the effectiveness and risk of loss of these combat vehicles, and from the point of view of the cost of operation <...>
It is important not to miss the moment when enemy kamikaze BEKs are equipped with weapons that can be used against our helicopters, in order to avoid unnecessary losses of equipment and personnel."
<...> the use of combat helicopters and attack aircraft for the search and destruction of kamikaze UAVs and kamikaze BEKs is a temporary measure, both from the point of view of the effectiveness and risk of loss of these combat vehicles, and from the point of view of the cost of operation <...>
It is important not to miss the moment when enemy kamikaze BEKs are equipped with weapons that can be used against our helicopters, in order to avoid unnecessary losses of equipment and personnel."
It was proposed to use Orion unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as the main means of countering enemy BEK kamikazes, with their subsequent addition/replacement with a combination of Sirius UAVs and Helios-RLD UAVs.
The Orion UAV is the only Russian medium-altitude, long-duration UAV that is being mass-produced and accepted into service. It is capable of not only conducting reconnaissance, but also using guided weapons.
As a temporary solution, yes, helicopters were quite effective, but it seems that their success in combating BEK kamikazes led to a “it works, so what” solution, and other methods of hunting BEK kamikazes were apparently not considered.
Uncertain realities
Now, information has appeared in foreign sources that over the Black Sea, Ukrainian Magura V5 kamikaze aircraft attacked two Russian Mi-73 helicopters using R-8 SeeDragon missiles, one of which, according to the enemy, was shot down and the second damaged.
So far, there is no confirmation of this information from Russian official sources; there is only a video of the alleged attack, of extremely low quality, from which it is not possible to establish the veracity of the information claimed by the enemy.
Video footage of the alleged Ukrainian attack by a Mi-8 helicopter with a Magura V5 kamikaze BEC
By the way, Ukrainian sources also talk about another helicopter – the Mi-28, lost due to friendly fire, the risks of which we also discussed in the above-mentioned material.
“In particular, when hunting for kamikaze UAVs in the area of operation of Russian air defense systems, there may be cases of ‘friendly fire’.”
Image TG channel fighter_bomber
There is no official confirmation of the information about the loss of the Russian Mi-28 helicopter yet.
Conclusions
Even if the Ukrainian statements about the destruction and damage of Russian helicopters hunting for the BEK are false, as is the information about the loss of the Mi-28 helicopter from friendly fire, then sooner or later these negative events will definitely happen – it is almost inevitable.
Or has it already happened?
Even the unsuccessful launch of the R-73 missile at the Ka-29 helicopter could not be ignored, not to mention if successful cases of defeating Russian BEK helicopters actually take place.
Regardless of whether the information published by the enemy is reliable or not, there is only one thing that is certain – the enemy is constantly improving its BEK, and they will definitely shoot down our helicopters. As we have already said in the above material, the enemy will definitely integrate the Stugna-P anti-tank missile systems (ATGM) into the BEK armament, and the helicopters' on-board self-defense systems do not help against anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM).
"There is no doubt that in the near future, Ukrainian kamikaze BEKs will also be equipped with guided weapons, for example, the Stugna-P anti-tank guided missile system (ATGM)."
For installation on the BEK, the Stugna-P ATGM will require almost no modifications, since they are equipped with remote control
And in general, perhaps it is time to talk not about kamikaze BEKs, but about multifunctional BEKs, whose self-destruction by the enemy is not supposed, but the use of the said multifunctional BEKs is supposed to attack various targets, including air targets, with onboard weapons. Of course, multifunctional BEKs will operate in conjunction with kamikaze BEKs, according to the combat missions distributed between them.
According to open data, about thirty Orion UAVs were produced in Russia as of March 2022. Of course, there is no evidence that this figure is reliable, but it is already January 2025, so some number of the said UAVs were probably produced?
Maybe it would be worth sending some of them to hunt for kamikaze BECs over the Black Sea, rather than risking expensive combat helicopters with crews?
However, there are other ways to detect and destroy enemy BECs, but we will talk about them in a separate article.
Information