
The following video clearly shows a Syrian Mil Mi-17 Hip helicopter hit by a surface-to-air missile near Aleppo on Nov. 27, 2012.
Even if there we have seen many videos showing Assad’s gunships downed by rebels fire, this is the first one to provide evidence of a direct hit using a SAM.
Hi David,
How many gunships would Assad and his forces have had before the civil war began, and what do you think the number is now?
Will he eventually run out of helicopters if the current rate of attrition continues?
Cheers!
S
@Simon B-
Per a recent article in the October issue of Air Forces Monthly the Syrian Arab Air Force has quite a large fleet of helicopters:
100+ Mi-8T/Mi-17 Hips (70+ airworthy)
40+ Mi-25 Hinds (30+ airworthy)
20+ Mi-2 Hoplite (10+ airworthy)
65+ SA 342L Gazelle’s (30+ airworthy)
Based on information in Dave’s blog and other sources I opinion that perhaps a dozen or so helicopters have been lost.
Simon,
Russia is supplying Syria still.
In this video you can see the having a hard landing
Tough thing that. Had it been a US helicopter (any of the known ones really), it would have likely exploded in a huge fireball, as we have seen them do in Iraq, with the loss of all crew. This one manages to land.