An Apache and Black Hawk drill in Taiwan shows how Ukraine’s drones are changing helicopter warfare

TAIPEI — A chopper hot-refueling drill successful Taiwan's landmark subject workout shows really the land is preparing for drone threats erstwhile its choppers alert successful and retired of susceptible guardant positions, a threat many times demonstrated successful Ukraine.

Counter-drone crushed teams, crouching amid the writer and connected a adjacent road, watched the skies connected the seventh time of the 10-day Han Kuang exercise, arsenic the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade of Taiwan's service refueled 3 choppers by a reservoir successful Taoyuan.

Armed pinch 5.56mm battle rifles and bulky anti-drone guns, the infantry provided screen for the 3 rotorcraft swooping successful astatine debased altitude for a top-up: an AH-64E Apache Guardian onslaught helicopter, a UH-60M Black Hawk carrier chopper, and an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior recon helicopter.

They were arriving astatine a guardant arming and refueling point, aliases FARP, a section aliases clearing serving arsenic a impermanent installation wherever crushed crews tin quickly replenish a helicopter's ammunition and substance to support it successful the fight. FARPs are temporary, mobile, and adjacent the beforehand lines, pinch the presumption of force aerial threats looming nearby.

Troops location were preparing for a script successful which roads were trim off, and crushed proviso was unavailable.

The choppers, rotors still spinning, sat for astir 15 minutes astatine the makeshift tract arsenic crews connected them to a collapsible substance bladder, sling-loaded location moments agone by different Black Hawk. Several troops rearmed the Kiowa Warrior pinch AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

Soon after, the helicopters lifted disconnected 1 by one, hurtling complete the treeline.

The beingness of counter-drone teams astatine the segment was peculiarly notable. Despite Taiwan's increasing accent connected drone warfare, the anti-drone weapon astatine the segment hasn't featured prominently successful different areas of the island's 42nd Han Kuang drills.

An physics anti-drone jamming gun, the limb was developed locally by the state-affiliated National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, which prototypes the immense majority of Taiwan's homegrown subject tech.

It's a motion that Taiwan is reasoning astir the threat of mini drone attacks arsenic the helicopters attack and refuel — erstwhile they're astatine their slowest and astir vulnerable.

Ukraine's warfare has shown really quickly specified missions tin move dangerous. At guardant refueling sites for illustration these, helicopters and crushed crews are exposed successful the open, making easy pickings for mini quadcopters carrying explosives that tin recreation heavy beyond the beforehand lines to hunt down important assets.

Kyiv's troops person recorded respective instances of their drone pilots catching Russian helicopters refueling aliases taking off, utilizing mini drones to destruct aliases onslaught their rotors. Reconnaissance drones tin besides spot choppers for a precision rocket aliases artillery attack.

In Ukraine, some sides of the warfare person responded by dispersing their rotorcraft arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable and quickly resupplying astatine FARPs, overmuch for illustration the 1 successful Taiwan's drill.

Taiwan's subject seems to beryllium watching Russia's losses, and now "rarely conducts missions utilizing ample chopper formations," said Chung Chieh, a seasoned Taiwanese expert astatine the government-backed Institute of National Defense and Security Research.

"Instead, helicopters are dispersed and concealed successful locations specified arsenic business parks, forests, clearings adjacent wooded areas, riverbanks, and moreover schools," Chung told Business Insider.

But the investigation fellow, who attended galore of the Han Kuang drills this year, raised concerns that Taiwan is lagging down successful anti-drone warfare, pinch frontline units having "only short-range jammer guns during combat." Better counter-drone systems look to beryllium deployed only astatine airfields aliases fixed installations, he said.

"Taiwan still lacks effective mobile, field-deployable counter-drone limb systems, and advancement successful this area needs to beryllium accelerated," Chung added.

The drone threat against helicopters has emerged successful different warfare zones, specified arsenic Myanmar, wherever location person now been astatine slightest 2 claims of guidance fighters utilizing first-person-view drones to down aliases harm Soviet-made Mi-17 helicopters flown by the section junta forces.

Taiwan's Han Kuang exercises, held this twelvemonth successful early to mid-August, are the island's simulation of a Chinese attack, featuring scores of drills crossed its territory involving land, sea, and aerial forces, arsenic good arsenic civilian and constabulary institutions.