Low-cost unmanned weapon destroys expensive crewed aircraft in textbook asymmetric warfare

A Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter sits on a runway during the "Polish Apache Initiative 4 / European HIMARS Initiative 8" joint military exercise at a training ground in Kijewo, Kujawy-Pomerania, Poland, on May 28. [EPA]
A Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter sits on a runway during the "Polish Apache Initiative 4 / European HIMARS Initiative 8" joint military exercise at a training ground in Kijewo, Kujawy-Pomerania, Poland, on May 28. [EPA]

An Iranian drone shot down a US Apache helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, The New York Times, CNN and other American outlets reported Tuesday, citing US officials.

The AH-64 Apache is the US Army's primary attack helicopter, capable of carrying cannons and missiles. It was the first such aircraft downed since the outbreak of war with Iran.

The weapon used was a Shahed attack drone — the so-called "kamikaze drone," named after the Japanese suicide squads of World War II. The strike neutralized one of America's most recognizable crewed conventional weapons using a low-cost unmanned system, marking a victory for asymmetric tactics. The episode again confirmed the battlefield value of loitering munitions, which have already established themselves as central weapons in modern conflicts including the war in Ukraine.

Notably, the two pilots aboard the downed Apache were also rescued by a drone.

Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, which oversees military operations against Iran, said a US Navy surface drone located and rescued the crew members after they ended up in the water. "The drone carried them to another maritime location, where they were hoisted onto a helicopter for further transport," he said.

The surface drone that conducted the rescue was the Corsair, an unmanned vessel developed by defense company Saronic, according to Axios. The Corsair is operated by Task Force 59, a naval unit the US Navy established in Bahrain in 2021 to test unmanned technology and AI and integrate them into naval operations.

Axios described the rescue mission as "the highest-stakes operation of its kind ever conducted," adding that it offered a glimpse of future warfare in which humans and intelligent military systems operate side by side.


yckim6452@heraldcorp.com