It’s an echo of.
World War II.
When gunners in the noses.
Of heavy bombers.
Defended their planes.
From enemy fighters.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
A video depicting.
One gun-armed.
Mi-8 appeared.
Online this week.
In the video.
A gunner wedged.
Between the helicopter’s pilot.
And co-pilot.
Fires a machine gun.
Through the nose glazing.
Blowing up a drone.
Flying just below the helicopter.
The cockpit fills.
With gun fumes.
Mi-8s has always.
Been capable.
Of carrying guns.
Under their stub wings.
Or mounting them.
On their open side doors.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
When gunners in the noses.
Of heavy bombers.
Defended their planes.
From enemy fighters.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
Only a few variants.
Have been armed with.
Under-nose guns.
But it seems.
Any Mi-8 model.
With transparent nose glazing.
—as opposed to.
A solid nose—
Can be fitted with.
A flexible mount.
For a gun that fires.
Through the nose.
A canvas flap replaces.
A single panel of glazing.
The ‘elves’ army has.
Several types of Mi-8.
With nose glazing.
In its fleet of.
Around 75.
Mi-8s and.
Similar Mi-17s:
That’s around 50.
Pre-war helicopters.
Minus 25.
Wartime losses plus 50.
Replacement Mi-8/17s.
Ukraine has received.
From its allies.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
When gunners in the noses.
Of heavy bombers.
Defended their planes.
From enemy fighters.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
Pre-war photos.
Depict several ‘elves’.
Mi-8s with.
The canvas flaps.
Hinting at the helicopters’.
Possible future roles.
As drone-hunters.
The Mi-8’s cockpit is.
Just big enough.
For three crew sitting.
Side-by-side:
Two pilots and a gunner.
It’s an awkward arrangement.
Made more awkward by.
The fumes that fill the cockpit.
With each gun engagement.
But that doesn’t mean.
An Mi-8 with.
An onboard gunner isn’t.
An effective drone-killer.
Machine-gunning drones.
From inside of.
A helicopter saves.
Valuable air-defense missiles.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
When gunners in the noses.
Of heavy bombers.
Defended their planes.
From enemy fighters.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
Swarmed by ‘orcs’.
Surveillance drones and.
Disinclined to fire.
Million-dollar surface-to-air missiles.
At targets that might.
Cost just $100,000.
The ‘elves’ armed forces.
Have been improvising.
Cheaper means of.
Shooting down the drones.
They’ve organized roving fleets.
Of machine-gun-armed trucks.
They’ve flown a Yakovlev.
Yak-52 training plane with.
A shotgun-wielding gunner.
In the back seat.
They’ve even trained.
Operators to ram.
‘Elves’ drones.
Into ‘orcs’ drones.
Now ‘elves’ helicopter crews.
Are shooting down.
‘Orcs’ drones.
With machine guns.
With machine guns.
Installed in the noses.
Of Mil Mi-8.
Hip transport helicopters.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
When gunners in the noses.
Of heavy bombers.
Defended their planes.
From enemy fighters.
It’s an echo of.
World War II.
*Because I read “Ukrainian Helicopter Crews Are Shooting Down Russian Drones—Like World War II Turret Gunners” by David Axe on 22 Aug 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:
Ukrainian ‘Copter Crews Shoot Down Drones Like WWII Turret Gunners (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.
