Photos and videos depict.
The Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter.
Burning near Donetsk.
In ‘orcs’-occupied eastern Ukraine.
‘Elves’ forces deploy.
More than 100,000 explosive.
First-person-view drones.
A month.
All along.
The 700-mile front line.
Of ‘orcs’ 28-month wider war.
On Ukraine.
The drones smash into.
Armored vehicles.
Chase down.
Exposed infantry.
And follow artillery.
Fire back to its origin.
In order to target.
‘Orcs’ howitzers.
And today one of.
The small quadcopter drones.
May have shot down.
An ‘orcs’ helicopter.
Remotely steered.
By an operator wearing.
A virtual-reality headset.
Apparently for the first time.
Photos and videos depict.
The Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter.
Burning near Donetsk.
In ‘orcs’-occupied eastern Ukraine.
This new use of.
Explosive drones has been.
A long time coming.
As long ago as September.
‘Elves’ operators first tried.
Ramming their flying robots.
Into ‘orcs’ helicopters.
Mid-flight.
The drone threat got so serious.
That the ‘orcs’ air force began.
Assigning some helicopters to.
Escort other helicopters.
It apparently took.
At least 10 months of trying.
Before an ‘elf’ drone operator.
Finally hit an ‘orcs’ helicopter.
The months of misses.
Are understandable.
A helicopter can fly.
Faster than 150 miles.
Per hour at altitudes.
Exceeding thousands of feet.
—too fast and too high.
For a two-pound drone.
To get a clean shot.
Without an enormous degree.
Of skill or luck.
On the part of the operator.
The ‘elves’ drone pilot in.
The possible Wednesday shoot-down.
Was very skilled or lucky.
—or both.
Photos and videos depict.
The Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter.
Burning near Donetsk.
In ‘orcs’-occupied eastern Ukraine.
They spotted the 12-ton.
Three-crew ‘orcs’ helicopter.
While it was still close.
To the ground.
The ‘orcs’ helicopter.
—which performs attack.
Transport and.
Medical-evacuation missions—
An FPV drone.
Normally carries just.
A few pounds of explosives.
But it doesn’t take much.
Firepower to knock down.
A helicopter.
If it takes a hit it.
In the rotors.
After more than.
Two years of war.
‘Elves’ drone operators.
Have become extremely adept.
At targeting the most.
Vulnerable parts of ‘orcs’ targets:
Flying drones into the open hatches.
Of armored personnel carriers.
Under the add-on armor.
On so-called “turtle tanks”.
And through the doors of.
Reinforced infantry dugouts.
Compared to.
A 36-inch-wide hatch.
An Mi-8’s 69-foot-diameter.
Rotor disc is an easy target.
Photos and videos depict.
The Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter.
Burning near Donetsk.
In ‘orcs’-occupied eastern Ukraine.
What might be most impressive.
Is how far.
The ‘orcs’ helicopter may.
Have been from the front line.
The western edge of Donetsk is.
Just three miles from the front line.
—well within the range.
Of an unaided FPV drone.
But the eastern edge.
Of the city is closer to.
10 miles from.
The front line.
That’s apparently where.
The shoot-down took place.
To travel 10 miles.
An FPV might need help.
From a second drone.
Trailing a few miles behind.
That captures and rebroadcasts.
Its short-range command signal.
Photos and videos depict.
The Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter.
Burning near Donetsk.
In ‘orcs’-occupied eastern Ukraine.
It’s a complex operation.
Requiring careful coordination.
One more loss isn’t.
Catastrophic for the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ military has.
Hundreds of helicopters.
And, so far, has lost just.
A hundred or so to ‘elves’ action.
But now that the ‘elves’ have.
Droned their first helicopter.
They may redouble their efforts.
To take down ‘orcs’ rotorcraft.
Considering how many FPV drones.
The ‘elves’ deploy every month.
The threat to ‘orcs’ helicopters.
Could intensify—a lot.
Photos and videos depict.
The Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter.
Burning near Donetsk.
In ‘orcs’-occupied eastern Ukraine.
The main ‘orcs’ source.
For this story.
Helicopter pilot.
And the blogger.
Now claims that.
An ‘elves’ ground-launched rocket.
—not a drone—
Shot down the Mi-8.
Photos and videos depict.
The Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter.
Burning near Donetsk.
In ‘orcs’-occupied eastern Ukraine.
*Because I read “A Two-Pound Ukrainian Drone May Have Shot Down A 12-Ton Russian Helicopter” by David Axe on 31 Jul 2024 on the Forbes, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022 on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
A Two-Pound Ukrainian Drone May Have Shot Down A 12-Ton Russian Helicopter (forbes.com)
**My friend kindly shows you this poem in one page of the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them! You can read my 100 poems here at once.
