Can a helicopter shoot down a fighter jet?
Table of Contents
Can a helicopter shoot down a fighter jet?
‘A well equipped attack helicopter flown by a trained crew will defeat most fighter airplanes in 1v1 air combat, should the fighter be foolish enough to drop down to try and engage,’ Nick Lappos, Technical Fellow Emeritus at Sikorsky and former U.S. Army AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter pilot, said on Quora.
Has a Huey shot down a jet?
On one occasion in the Vietnam War, though, a Huey became the first and only helicopter in aviation history to shoot down a biplane. These bombing raids were having a crippling effect on the North Vietnamese war effort, and the North Vietnamese military command decided it was time to strike back.
Is Apache a fighter jet?
The advanced AH-64D Apache Longbow was delivered to the Army in March 1997. Production has been continued by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, with over 2,400 AH-64s being produced by 2020….Boeing AH-64 Apache.
| AH-64 Apache | |
|---|---|
| Role | Attack helicopter |
| National origin | United States |
How many Apaches were shot down in Iraq?
| 2003 attack on Karbala | |
|---|---|
| 90 tanks Several hundred vehicles | 31 AH-64 Apaches |
| Casualties and losses | |
| 12 tanks 6 S-60 AA guns | 1 Apache crashed 1 Apache shot down 29 Apaches damaged (2 beyond repair) At least 1 wounded 2 pilots captured |
| Location of Karbala within Iraq. |
Helicopters have a better chance of shooting down fighter jets with their Air to Air Missiles (like AIM 92 Stingers, Mistral ATAM etc) — but that’s usually NOT the role assigned to them.
Do attack helicopters carry anti-air weapons?
Almost every attack helicopter on the planet can carry a modified AAM or shoulder fired SAM for anti-air protection. The proof for this lies in the US exercise J-CATCH, in which helicopters were discovered to be very dangerous to fighter jets up close, and thus to engage a helicopter a fighter needed a long range shot and either the AIM-7 or AIM-9.
How do helicopters and fighter jets get into dogfights?
Helicopters and Fighters don’t get into ‘dogfights’. Usually what would happen, is that an incoming enemy fighter would be engaged by a friendly fighter that was flying a CAP over a given area of the battle space. During the Vietnam war, the CIA had an airbase in Laos used for covert operations.
Why don’t fighter jets engage helos?
If the helo is well masked by the terrain the fighter will have little chance to detect it. Even if it does or suspects there is something there because a radar return keeps appearing and dissappearing, he will have to get down low and dirty to engage. That means subsonic passes, high turn rates, visual search, avoiding terrain and so on.