A screenshot from a Ukrainian FPV drone, moments before it impacts the tail rotor of a Russian Mil Mi-28 ‘Havoc' attack helicopter. This event marked the first ever successful targeting of a manned aircraft in flight by a UAV to be documented. (Ukraine Armed Forces)
A first-person view (FPV) ‘drone' struck a helicopter in the first successful targeted attack of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on a manned aircraft in flight ever recorded.
FPV footage released by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 7 August showed the UAV of an undetermined type target the tail rotor of a Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Mil Mi-28 ‘Havoc' attack helicopter, reportedly over the Russian region of Kursk.
The footage ended at the moment of impact so it was not possible to determine if the UAV was fitted with a warhead and if that warhead detonated. However, the closing speed and the UAV striking the unprotected tail rotor suggest that the helicopter was downed in the incident.
At least two other Russian helicopters (another Mi-28 and a Kamov Ka-52 ‘Hokum-B') were reported to have been brought down by the Ukrainian forces in the same area and at about the same time, but it is unclear if those were a result of FPV drones.
Russian pilots had previously posted at least one other event where a Mil Mi-35 ‘Hind-E' assault helicopter was unsuccessfully engaged by a Ukrainian FPV multicopter, but this marked the first time that a successful engagement of this nature had been documented anywhere in the world.
The release of this latest footage came about 21 months after the Ukrainian forces recorded the first ever air-to-air combat between two UAVs. That footage, released in October 2022, showed a
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