File image
A Russian Ka-52M attack helicopter was reportedly able to shot down 25 Ukrainian long-range, fixed-wing suicide drones using new 30 mm airburst time-fused ammunition that was introduced very recently by the country’s state corporation Rostec.
The drones were downed in just two sorties, 14 in the first, and 11 in the second. Video footage showing some of the interceptions were posted to social networks on February 19.
The attack helicopter took down all the drones using its mobile semi-rigid 30 mm Shipunov 2A42 cannon. The 2a42 lowest rate of fire is 200–300 rounds per minute and can get as high as 550–800 rounds per minute with a muzzle velocity of 960 meters per second. The cannon’s effective firing range is two kilometers, but can fire at targets up to four kilometers away.
The 30 mm airburst time-fused ammunition used was first introduced by Rostec at the World Defense Show 2026 exhibition in Saudi Arabia earlier in the month.
The ammunition was especially designed to take down drones. The fuse is automatically set before firing based on the target’s flight path. No modification to the 2a42 is required.
Helicopters can fly at low altitudes and speeds which make them very suitable for intercepting slow and small aerial targets like drones.
The Ka-52M in particular is very suitable for this role as it is equipped with Arbalet-52 dual-band coherent pulse radar and the GOES-451M electro-optical targeting system which are reportedly capable of detecting aerial targets from a range up to 15 kilometers.
In addition to the 2a42, the Ka-52 can be armed with Igla-V missiles, which are an air-launcher version of the Igla man-portable air defense system. The missiles are guided via infrared homing and have a fire-and-forget capability. The range of the system is reported to be five kilometers.
As Ukraine stepped up its drone attacks over the past year, the Russian military began to rely more on its large fleet of Ka-52Ms to counter this threat. The helicopter has so far proven to be highly capable in this role.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
helis to the rescue!
if the usadmin and its nato poodles were so convinced that the junta in kiev can win this proxy war using us/nato tech, then why haven’t they imposed a no-fly zone over what is left of ukraine?