Did a Helicopter ever shoot down a jet fighter?

hesham

hesham

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Hi,

did anybody hear about this event before ?.
 
I would not be entirely surprised if it happened before but I have never read anything other than rumors. Supposedly it happened once in the Iran-Iraq War but I've never read anything concrete.

At some point US Army aviation started training helicopter pilots in evasion techniques to perform if some MiG-21 or whatever decided to play down in the weeds. For the AH-1 and AH-64 at least they would also try to bring their weapons to bear on the attacker. Yet the odds of actually shooting them down would probably be very low unless they had air-to-air Stinger or something similar which wouldn't have been until the closing days of the Cold War.
 
The old ACIG.org site mentionned rumors of an iraqi Mi-24 shooting an iranian Phantom but nothing sure. Bar that, never heard another case.
 
Easy for a helicopter to strafe a fighter taixiing or taking off, but it rapidly gets more difficult as the jet takes-off and climbs.
The most likely scenario involves a helicopter gun-ship skulking in a side valley as a jet fighter roars past doing a straffing run. The helicopter gun-ship fires off a burst from their Gatling 20 mm cannon and blows chunks off of the fighter.

The other scenario involves a ship-launched AH-64 XXXXXX Apache with the very latest version of Logbow Mark XXXXX mast-mounted interceptor radar and self-honing air-to-air missiles. As the ship nears a hostile coast, defenders launch fighter jet while the Apache shoots them down with the latest-tech missiles.
 
Colonial-Marine said:
I would not be entirely surprised if it happened before but I have never read anything other than rumors. Supposedly it happened once in the Iran-Iraq War but I've never read anything concrete.

At some point US Army aviation started training helicopter pilots in evasion techniques to perform if some MiG-21 or whatever decided to play down in the weeds. For the AH-1 and AH-64 at least they would also try to bring their weapons to bear on the attacker. Yet the odds of actually shooting them down would probably be very low unless they had air-to-air Stinger or something similar which wouldn't have been until the closing days of the Cold War.
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J-CATCH was pretty humbling for the Air Force. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it.
 
I certainly know of the other way around, where Jets have shot down a couple of Attack Helicopters, but not of helicopters shooting down jets...
 
If comics count (French comics), Sony's F-18 is shot down during a frontal pass by a rogue Mi-24 from wich (if I do recall correctly) Buck Danny will (literally) jump-off using a bad guy has shock absorber.

Beautifully drafted as often.

Buck Danny comics - I do not remember episode title. Sorry.

Edit:
Got it!

Buck-Danny-Thunder-over-the-Cordillera.jpg
 
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it is Iraqi propaganda it never happened the story goes that a hind shot down an iranin f4 with a anti tank missile what type i cant remember but the missile was tested by us found useless against stationery tanks
 
Archibald said:
The old ACIG.org site mentionned rumors of an iraqi Mi-24 shooting an iranian Phantom but nothing sure. Bar that, never heard another case.
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The Iraqis clam that their Mi-25 (i.e. export version of Mi-24D) shot down one Iranian F-4 Phantom II in summer 1982, but the Iranians strongly deny that.
 
I saw an artist drawing to attack helicopter launched a missile to a jet fighter in a book from many years,but it's not
our subject,we ask if it could happened ?.
 
it can us ran tests were attack aircraft tried to destroy sam sites by low level bombing only to be shot down by a hidden attack helicopter
 
During the 1973 war an Israeli Yasur helicopter (CH-53) doing casevac was bounced by several Egyptian MiG-21s and Su-7s.
The Yasur undertook evasive manoeuvering down in the mountain valleys. The "fight" lasted pretty long and I seem to remember that one of the pursuers crashed himself into the terrain, then the others quit.
The Yasur made it back nearly unscathed with its load of wounded, but had the transmission overtorqued (and I guess soiled seats).

I'm travelling and can't check the references now to verify.
 
shyab said:
not be harsh but a crash is not a shoot down
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Well, I see where you come from, but you'll find that when the result of their piloting is one fewer of the bad guys' aircraft, many air forces call it a kill.
 
dan_inbox said:
During the 1973 war an Israeli Yasur helicopter (CH-53) doing casevac was bounced by several Egyptian MiG-21s and Su-7s.
The Yasur undertook evasive manoeuvering down in the mountain valleys. The "fight" lasted pretty long and I seem to remember that one of the pursuers crashed himself into the terrain, then the others quit.
The Yasur made it back nearly unscathed with its load of wounded, but had the transmission overtorqued (and I guess soiled seats).

I'm travelling and can't check the references now to verify.
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That was a BIG LYING from any source and the opposite was happen,

Egypt Helicopter did it in 1973 war,

our fighters did not engage in any fight with helicopters at all during the war,and our pilot who shot down it told the whole story,a 4 Phantoms
attack a squadron of helicopters after we put a soldiers after enemy lines,and the tills and small mountains made the squadron survivor to a 10
minutes,and the fight was on 100 to 150 meter,one Phantom tried to shoot one of our helicopter,and went down it and tried to go high in front
of it,then the pilot suddenly press on fire and the fighter blew up,the other three fighter far away.
 
at the at end of day it can happen but the advantage would be with fighter stay high stay fast and strike from a dissidence do not get with in the helicopters weapons range
 
A relative mentioned something about his aerial gunnery school classmate shooting down
some fixed-wing aircraft* with an AH-1 during Vietnam.

* I seem to recall it being a MiG-17 but I don't have a firm recollection.
 
Hi,

to know how come this Maneuverability,please see my drawing,and sorry I am not good in paint.
 

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I have a book written by Bill Gunston which features a section about evasive manoeuvres undertaken by helicopters to evade fighter aircraft and other helicopters. I am highly unsure, but doubtful, that they would have had the capability to shoot the attacker down.
 
Disembarked troop with stinger missiles can do the trick. Why not an aim-9 fitted Cobra that can dive @ 400kph?
 
Evening Gents. Apologies for the de-lurk. Having played a fair bit of DCS world & had my (simulated) frogfoot trashed by apaches & cobras more than a few times, this doesn't seem totally implausible.

Thanks for all the fascinating threads & discussion!
 
"Can" (in theory :) ) but I don't recall an actual case every being reliably cited of such. The 'fighter' has so many basic advantages that I'm pretty sure you would have MULTIPLE cited sources and references if it ever had happened. If for no other reason than it would be something both 'fighter-jocks' and "whirley-birders' would be hammering on all the time.

Of course having said that I'll note the incident where a fighter BOMBED an active attack helo out of the sky isn't that well known so I could be wrong :)

Randy
 
hesham said:
There was a book by Arabic from our Air Force Archive,
it was actually happened,but they didn't mention the name of the squadron and the pilot,I can display the whole story in details and
translate it.
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If it is not too much to ask, yes I'd be interested to see it. Especially if there are locations and dates.
In fact I'd like to compare the Egyptian AF's version with the IDF/AF's version whereby the insertion attempt ws discovered and bounced by F-4Es (without any F-4 loss in this version ;) ) and one Mil Mi-8T was captured intact save for a broken front wheel.
It should be interesting to figure out the facts from those conflicting claims.

These photos show a Mi-8 Hip-C crashed in the Sinai, then painted with an Israeli cockade to avoid friendly fire and brought to an IDF/AF base.
 

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There was no doubt in my story,

it was already happened 100 %,but I am not in my home now,so I will offer the whole thing when I come back,and the Phantom blew up after few meters,of course
the pilot was not a hero or he meant it,but he made a Reflexive Behavior,and we can say only by chance,again; it was a fact,not imagination.
 
dan_inbox said:
hesham said:
There was a book by Arabic from our Air Force Archive,
it was actually happened,but they didn't mention the name of the squadron and the pilot,I can display the whole story in details and
translate it.
Click to expand...
If it is not too much to ask, yes I'd be interested to see it. Especially if there are locations and dates.
In fact I'd like to compare the Egyptian AF's version with the IDF/AF's version whereby the insertion attempt ws discovered and bounced by F-4Es (without any F-4 loss in this version ;) ) and one Mil Mi-8T was captured intact save for a broken front wheel.
It should be interesting to figure out the facts from those conflicting claims.

These photos show a Mi-8 Hip-C crashed in the Sinai, then painted with an Israeli cockade to avoid friendly fire and brought to an IDF/AF base.
Click to expand...
Is it that one from which one of the crew got his head chopped off when running out of the helo ?
 
galgot said:
dan_inbox said:
These photos show a Mi-8 Hip-C crashed in the Sinai, then painted with an Israeli cockade to avoid friendly fire and brought to an IDF/AF base.
Click to expand...
Is it that one from which one of the crew got his head chopped off when running out of the helo ?
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Yes. The pilot did not flee, he stepped out forward to check the damage, and did not realize that with the front gear collapsed the rotor was spinning lower at the front. Was beheaded. Then the others fled on foot, leaving the chopper with engine running at idle. This is how the Israelis found it.
 
Ouch! Definitely one of those Ctrl-Z moments :(

More on topic, there was a bit of an internet buzz a few years ago when apparently a female HuAF Mi-24 pilot was credited with a virtual F-15 kill during an exercise with the USAF. Not a real shoot-down obviously, but goes to show attack helos with trainable guns are not to be underestimated.
 
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In the video game Metal gear solid (1998) a Hind D is mentioned who shot down two F16s.
 
There are few helicopter pilots who are going to want to tangle with a fighter. Modern systems on fighters will make it a decidedly one-sided event. While a AIM-9 off the rail of an AH-1Z could do the job, the smoke trail will give the wingman a good idea where to look. Of interest the United States Army actually wrote an Air Combat manual (FM1-107 Air Combat) which lasted about six months before it was pulled by panic from the unit commanders and safety officers who were afraid that there would be a huge increase in crashes as pilots chased each other. The Infantry and Armor officers wanted it done away with because they felt that the "-deleted- Aviators" would stop doing their job of working for them to go paint little airplanes on the side of their helicopters.
 
yasotay said:
There are few helicopter pilots who are going to want to tangle with a fighter. Modern systems on fighters will make it a decidedly one-sided event. While a AIM-9 off the rail of an AH-1Z could do the job, the smoke trail will give the wingman a good idea where to look.
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Leaving aside the low smoke motors, who wouldn't trade a helicopter for a fast jet?
 

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