Flying attack helicopters low on risky runs the way they do in Ukraine is far from easy, former Super Cobra pilot says

• Ukraine's attack helicopter pilots have been conducting low and fast runs in the war against Russia.
• Videos of these runs show pilots responding to dangers and difficult environments.

Ukraine's attack helicopter pilots are flying low and fast, navigating a dangerous battlefield where almost anything in the air is at risk.

The challenges these pilots face in this complex operating environment appear to be quite sophisticated, perhaps even more so than what American attack helicopter pilots have gone up against before, a former US Marine Corps Super Cobra pilot noted in an interview with Business Insider.

The fighting in Ukraine is fraught with many high-end threats. And, it is a difficult environment across the board.

Videos of helicopter operations often show Ukrainian pilots flying at low altitudes across challenging, changing terrains and environments, sometimes urban, sometimes grassy or woodland areas. In some videos, they're flying just mere feet above the ground, dodging trees, houses, and power lines.

Flying in that kind of situation can restrict a pilot's reaction time and affect their situational awareness.

"Pilots have to pay close attention to these small changes," Kyleanne Hunter, a senior political scientist at RAND and a former Marine Corps Super Cobra pilot who flew medevac escort missions as well as other runs, explained, and they have to "make real time decisions on how they're actually maneuvering and handling the helicopter."

She said that when she would escort other aircraft, she had to pay close attention not only to her own surroundings, but also to what threats could harm the aircraft.

A former US naval aviator and TOPGUN instructor previously talked with BI about low passes involving fixed-wing aircraft, saying that while "flying lower isn't necessarily harder," doing so "is more task intensive and requires more concentration," with much of the pilot's attention going toward "terrain avoidance."

For low-flying helicopter pilots, it's also a dangerous situation where the wrong move could mean disaster.

And then, of course, there is the serious threat of Russian surface-to-air missiles and other weapons, to include Russian aircraft. While SAM sites may be more identifiable, man-portable systems pose a threat that can be harder to detect. Helicopters are also vulnerable to rockets and small-arms fire.

Based on the videos and information out there, it appears as though Ukrainian pilots are facing "a much more sophisticated threat environment" than US pilots have seen, Hunter said, looking just at what is publicly available on where they are flying and what they are up against.

Ukraine mainly flies Mi-8 helicopters and Mi-24s, and the purpose of these aircraft for Ukraine is multifaceted. They can be equipped with rockets and missiles and are able to quickly carry out attack missions against Russian ground forces. They can also be used to transport troops and supplies and provide air support. The contested operating environment is a challenge though.

In attack helicopter runs like those happening in Ukraine, Hunter said, flying low and fast is "most likely driven by threat considerations," as staying low to the ground and moving quickly helps the aircraft avoid detection by the enemy and reduces the likelihood of being shot down, a pilot's worst nightmare.

The difficulty with flying low to the earth is avoiding running into the ground and other obstacles. And its a challenge for both Ukrainian and Russian pilots contending with air-defense threats.

In 2022, for instance, a photograph surfaced showing the rocket launcher tubes on a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter filled with tree debris.

Some of these issues can be even more of a challenge for helicopters than some other aircraft.

Hunter said that "when we're thinking about flying just above ground level, small changes in altitude and terrain can make a big difference in the helicopter's ability to produce lift and fly in or out of a ground attack."

Some of the difficulty is thinking about how exactly the aircraft moves in a three-dimensional space and how its pilot navigates the altitude, which can be constantly changing.

For Ukraine, attack helicopters have been useful for fast missions against Russian forces. They, likewise, have served the Russians well, with its Ka-52s complicating armored assaults.

Helicopters can be ideal for these types of runs because they can get low, get in, and get out quickly. A Ukrainian pilot told Reuters in October 2023 that he was completing multiple runs a day against Russian enemy positions, mostly infantry, but sometimes vehicles as well.

That pilot, Oleh, said in order to single out a target, he stayed low, gradually gaining altitude as he launches missiles, and then turning away and descending, a tactic seen in many videos of helicopter attacks.

Part of the larger problem facing Ukrainian helicopter pilots is identifying where threats are coming from in combat environments. It is not all S-400s but a variety of threats, something the Russians have also had to learn, in some cases the hard way.

Hunter told Business Insider that pilots have to consider that a threat could come from virtually anywhere, whether it be a building or a fortified position. That forces pilots to be hyper vigilant and aware of their surroundings.

On the other side of the field from the Ukrainians and their aircraft, Russia's Ka-52 "Alligator" attack helicopters have made plenty of headlines, particularly for their lethality.

When Western-supplied armored vehicles found themselves stuck in minefields or advancing beyond the range of Ukraine's air defenses during Kyiv's failed counteroffensive last summer, Ka-52s would pick off vehicles and troops.

Part of the Ka-52's value comes from the different weapons it can carry, especially air-to-surface and anti-tank missiles that can allow it to operate outside the reach of many of Ukraine's air defenses. They are not untouchable though, and Russia has seen some of the aircraft shot down.

Ukraine has also targeted them on the ground. Last October, it used MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) secretly provided by the US to deal a harsh blow to the force, taking out an estimated 14 of them. It struck a blow but hasn't rendered the attack helicopter fleet inoperable. The fight goes on.