Russia’s Seemingly Dormant Attack Helicopter Gains New Lift

Russia’s effective use of loitering munitions and fiber-optic guided drones has upended thinking about the modern battlefield and sparked questions about the continued need for pricey attack helicopters. But Moscow itself does not appear ready to abandon that warfighting tool.

While it is increasingly tight-lipped about military development, Russia has launched a new combat helicopter program. The PAK AA—the Russian name for which means Future Air Complex of Army Aviation—joins next-generation programs such as the PAK DA bomber, PAK FA fighter and PAD DP interceptor.

Russia’s radar design bureau Phazotron-NIIR recently disclosed the program in an annual report outlining plans for 2025, including development of radar for a future army aviation platform it identified as the PAK AA.

• Ukraine drives Russia to constrain attack helicopter use
• Kamov and Mil have worked on high-speed rotorcraft concepts

There has been little public discussion about what a future Russian helicopter might look like. The head of Russian Army Aviation, Col. Yury Borisikov, told Krasnaya Zvezda, the official Russian Defense Ministry newspaper, last year that different design and engine options were under consideration. The goal is to double the current equipment’s speed and range, Borisikov said, suggesting that Russia is still keen on a high-speed system. The Pentagon, in contrast, abandoned its Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft program, which eyed similar improvements.

Russia’s attack helicopter fleet has felt the effects of the changing battlefield since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has lost about 100 attack helicopters since 2022. Ukraine’s air defenses and small drones have forced Russia to operate rotorcraft farther from the front lines and to base them at airfields far into Russian territory to avoid being hit. Russian helicopters are now conducting combat missions at distances of several hundred kilometers.

Those changes have reduced Russia’s helicopter loss rate over the past year and could be driving requirements for the PAK AA, including the need for greater range and speed than the Kamov Ka-52 and Mil Mi-28N, which have maximum speeds of about 300 kph (186 mph) and combat radii using internal fuel of about 180 km (110 mi.).

Russia also is looking to arm the new helicopter with better, more autonomous weapons. The country largely relies on unguided rockets launched from helicopters that approach at low altitude, fire a salvo in a short climb while expending countermeasures, then quickly retreat at low altitude to avoid Ukrainian air defenses. The result has been low accuracy, except in the few instances when the Ka-52M and Mi-28NM use remotely guided Kh-39 LMUR missiles that have a range of up to 15 km.

With its front-line utility diminished, Russia, like other countries, is sending attack helicopters to hunt down enemy drones at a lower cost than using surface-to-air interceptors.

Moscow has not detailed whether Mil or Kamov is working on the PAK AA, but both have been exploring technologies that could feed into the program. For instance, in 2008, Mil presented the Mi-X1, a high-speed helicopter with a single main rotor and a pusher propeller that is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 520 kph, and Kamov showed the Ka-92, with two coaxial counter-rotating rotors, capable of speeds up to 460 kph. Neither helicopter has flown.

Russia launched efforts in 2011 to deliver a high-speed civil helicopter, which it abandoned three years later; some of the work informed a military project that led to the first flight of an experimental, highly modified Mil Mi-24 on Dec. 29, 2015. This featured new main rotor blades and two heavily tuned Klimov VK-2500-01 engines as well as a narrow front fuselage with a single-seat cockpit. The helicopter was tested in wingless, standard-wing and extended-wing configurations, and it reached 407 kph in 2016, the highest speed ever for a Russian rotorcraft.

A high-speed combat helicopter project followed in August 2017 that aimed for a cruise speed of 400 kph, then-Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said. Kamov presented a Ka-52-based design using its signature coaxial rotors; Mil chose a classic configuration. Both designs sported large wings to relieve the main rotor in high-speed flight. Mil won the award in late 2018 and aimed to start production in 2025-28. The project likely stalled; the Phazotron report suggested only a recent revival of Russian interest in a high-speed system. Neither helicopter has flown.

Russia has not detailed a timeline for the program, which is unfolding amid upgrades to the existing helicopter fleet. Phazotron also described radar modernization and support activities linked to the Ka-52 and Ka-27M naval helicopters.