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Defense for Ukraine helicopters


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Just curious if anyone knows for sure...

 

I'm playing the Russian campaign and in the current battle I can hear Ukrainian helicopters snooping around.  Will placing my vehicles under the tree canopy protect them in any way?  I'm actually not even sure what type of helicopter the Ukrainians employ or what their technology may be.  Probably should look that up eh?  ;)

 

I have no AA assets and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do or are my vehicles just unlucky sitting ducks?

 

Thanks in advance!

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Phantom Captain,

 

Very good questions. AFVs such as the BMP-2 and BMP-3, the BTR-82, your 12.7 mm AAG equipped tanks and other weapons should be able to provide some measure of protection, especially if the birds are operating as shown in the vid (YMMV as far as depiction in the game). Hiding is a very good idea. Believe they don't have thermal sights, which should help. CM version of Weapons Tight called for if this option is used. Here is your UKR counterpart and fellow sufferer. Recommend consoling libations. The Russians call attack helicopters the "flying tank." You are almost certainly the quarry of the UKR flying tank known as the Mi-24/HIND. Notice the cannon firing in vid below. That would be the twin barreled 30 mm armed Mi-24/F/HIND F. Both models have the AT-6/SPIRAL/9m114 Shturm-S ATGM.

 

http://www.military.com/video/aircraft/gunships/mi-24-helicopter-firing-over-ukraine/4035290579001/

 

You could be facing either the HIND E or a HIND F. Good luck on your new assignment.

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

Edited by John Kettler
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If you can find a depression in the woods, that will really help. Helos have a difficult time with that and get in deep, not on the edge. What you want is to not worry about visibility so much as something to block the missile. Assume it will spot you and make it as difficult as possible to be hit. If you want to get gamey, take a vehicle you can afford to lose and park it in the open as a sacrificial goat - yeah like that one in Jurassic park.

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I ran into this problem as well during the Russian campaign. I was torn between leaving my vehicles stationary in the open (and hoping they were overlooked) and rushing them into tree cover (probably making them much easier to spot, but potentially safer under cover). For what its worth, the 2 vehicles I lost were the ones that I elected to leave stationary. 

 

The manual doesn't specify the optics available for the Ukrainian Mi-24s (some of the Russian variants have FLIR / TV cameras listed) but I have concluded that moving to a covered position is definitely safer than the stationary option.

 

While the "sacrificial goat tactic" maybe a gamey option, with that being said, I seem to remember that the tyrannosaur in Jurassic Park had difficulty spotting you if you remained motionless ... unfortunately not the case with Ukrainian air support!

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Phantom Captain,

 

Very good questions. AFVs such as the BMP-2 and BMP-3, the BTR-82, your 12.7 mm AAG equipped tanks and other weapons should be able to provide some measure of protection, especially if the birds are operating as shown in the vid (YMMV as far as depiction in the game).

 

That is certainly true in real life, but has anyone seen AutoCannons (besides Tunguska of course) and HMGs engage helos in game? I don't believe that I have seen any, but I hope to be mistaken.

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DreDay,

 

If they can't/don't/won't engage helos in CMBS, then absent CA to prevent it, BMP-2, BMP-3, BTR-70, BTR-80, BTR-82 and your tanks should be able, if the opportunity presents itself, to have a crack at the flying tanks. The vid I presented unmistakably shows that such opportunities exist. I can also tell you for a fact these sorts of AFV were treated as threats in assessing the vulnerability of an A-10 successor Stealth bird I worked on decades ago. I'd be most interested in hearing about defense vs helos--via non flak AFV--from ChrisND or one of the other BFC people.

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

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Thank you for breaking this down John. I agree, they certainly should engage hellos (and maybe A-10). Realistically speaking, ATGMS (especially the faster/laser-guided ones) should engage incoming or hovering hellos as well, but that would be tough to handle with the game engine. However I hope that at least ACs and HMGs can contribute to fending off helos attacks in upcoming patches.

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