Will Drones Make Helicopters Obsolete? Here’s What Experts Say

In March 2026, a small Ukrainian drone principally took out an assault helicopter — the Russian Ka-52 — and compelled it into an emergency touchdown. This drone was an FPV mannequin, quick for first-person view, a reasonably widespread kind of drone in use within the Ukraine warfare at this time. An operator on the bottom flies it whereas watching a dwell digicam feed. In this case, it was truly a fiber-optic drone, a variety that has a cable attached to it, serving to it take instructions with out interference from radio jammers. Price-wise, one thing like that runs for about $500. Meanwhile, the Ka-52 it broken is estimated to price $16 million.

Run the maths, and it will not be a stretch to contemplate changing helicopters with drones altogether. However, issues aren’t actually that straightforward, a minimum of in keeping with consultants. The gist is that drones appear to be they’d take over loads of the riskier scouting work. However, crewed helicopters would nonetheless be helpful for hauling troops and delivering firepower. Today, many of the proof comes from Ukraine, the place low-cost drone tech that no one’s actually examined at scale earlier than is fairly widespread.

In an essay for the nationwide safety publication War on the Rocks late final 12 months, Stephen Olguin, a former Apache pilot, laid out one huge purpose why helicopters nonetheless matter, and can proceed to for the foreseeable future. He argued that drones capable of finding and hit targets on their very own are nonetheless years away from taking part in energetic fight. Still, this hasn’t stopped militaries from slicing again on helicopters.

Signs of slicing again have been looming for years, however maybe essentially the most concrete piece of proof flew in when the U.S. Army canceled a deliberate scout helicopter known as the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA). While loads of army plane have been canceled up to now, this one was particular as a result of one huge purpose was the existence of drones. In the Army’s official announcement, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George pointed to Ukraine, saying that the warfare confirmed that “aerial reconnaissance has essentially modified.” Drones and satellites have merely pulled forward when it comes to scouting capabilities.

That stated, Ukraine wasn’t the one purpose right here. Arkadii Dotsenko, an aviation observer at Ukrainian protection outlet Oboronka, notes in a July 2026 evaluation that the Army additionally wanted that cash for its Black Hawk and Chinook transport helicopters. In 2025, Pentagon leaders directed the Army to cease shopping for the older AH-64D Apache assault helicopter and even labeled it out of date. Even Japan is headed the identical route. It flies the identical D-model Apache, and its Ground Self-Defense Force is now handing the helicopter’s scouting and strike work to drones.

These selections make much more sense contemplating how Russia’s assault helicopters fared in Ukraine. In the warfare’s first weeks, Russian Ka-52s flew low raids properly behind Ukrainian strains. Ukrainian troops answered with hundreds of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles known as MANPADS. By April 2022, Russian crews had largely stopped crossing the entrance line. Instead, analysts discovered that Russian helicopters assumed a brand new position: lobbing unguided rockets from a distance.

That stated, regardless of the benefits, a drone nonetheless cannot do every part an assault helicopter does. So for sure operations, the latter stays extra appropriate. Retired Marine Col. Rob Bodisch defined in a March 2026 essay for Small Wars Journal that an Apache carries 16 Hellfire missiles, which no tank can survive against, and that a drone does not come near that sort of firepower.

Moreover, Bodisch thinks the entire debate leans too closely on a single warfare – Ukraine, on this case. He cites Jonathan Panter of the Council on Foreign Relations, who argues {that a} grinding warfare of attrition in Europe tells you little concerning the necessities in every other future wars, like maybe a conflict between superpowers within the Pacific. That’s why he would relatively see helicopters and drones combat collectively, supporting one another. In truth, an idea that is made it previous the whiteboard known as Air-Launched Effects already proposes one thing of the kind. It sees Apache helicopters launching small expendable drones in flight, which then fly forward to scout or jam enemy radios. Meanwhile, the helicopter itself stays again from enemy air defenses.

Helicopters themselves are catching up on the identical time and are more and more able to capturing drones down themselves. For occasion, Ukraine now flies outdated Soviet-designed Mi-8 transport helicopters towards Shaheds, which are cheap Iranian-designed attack drones that Russia launches by the a whole lot. To conclude, the trustworthy reply right here is that drones are taking away jobs from helicopters slowly relatively than taking up totally.