Watch this helicopter door gunner shoot down a drone

Harold C. Hutchison
Jul 26, 2018 6:10 PM PDT
1 minute read
Fixed Wing photo

SUMMARY

Drones have become a security concern for the United States military. You might wonder why that is the case when the military operates a…

Drones have become a security concern for the United States military. You might wonder why that is the case when the military operates a number of advanced drones like the MQ-9 Reaper and the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Well, American troops had close calls with ISIS drones, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.


ISIS is using drones more and more in their warfighting tactics.

Dealing with drones has become a way for a lot of people to come up with ideas, like jammers that can send the drone running home, lasers that can burn the drones in mid-air, or ammo that can hunt drones. But there is another way to handle a drone that is just as permanent, and which is currently available to the troops on the front lines.

The seized 3DR Solo quadcopter drone, rigged with a remote-detonated improvised explosive device. (Mexican Federal Police photo)

All you need to handle the hostile is a Sikorsky H-60 airframe, and it really doesn't matter if it's a UH-60 Blackhawk, MH-60R/S Seahawk, or an Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk. Even a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk will do in a pinch. The real key to taking out these drones is the M240, M2, or M3 machine gun that the door gunners use.

A door gunner on a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from the 244th Aviation Brigade, Oklahoma National Guard, scours the earth below during joint training at Falcon Bombing Range, Fort Sill, Okla., Mar. 22, 2017. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Andrew M. LaMoreaux/Released)

In a sense, these door gunners are acting like the old waist gunners on B-17 Flying Fortresses. Back then, those gunners needed training films that included the voice of Bugs Bunny. Seventy-five years later, though, the gunners can actually train against a target similar to what they are shooting. And with live ammo, too.

A drone that was shot down by some of Nammo's programmable ammo rounds. (Photo from Nammo)

This low-tech solution might not work in all situations, but it is good to know that the United States military does have these options in case they need them. In the video below, you can see a door gunner at the United States Navy Rotary Wing Weapons School get some very realistic training on how to deal with a hostile drone. Note the M240 that is used on this MH-60 Seahawk.

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