The deadly downing of a Colombian National Police (CNP) UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter by a drone on Thursday is the latest sign of the growing vulnerability of rotary-wing aircraft to these attacks. While apparently the first such incident in the Western Hemisphere, the tactic was developed by Ukraine to strike Russian helicopters and has reportedly spread to Asia as well. The downing comes as militaries are rethinking the utility of helicopters due to myriad threats, including drones, which is a danger we have been warning about for years.
The CNP helicopter was hit by a drone while “providing security to officers engaged in manual coca crop eradication efforts,” Antioquia Governor Andres Julian Rendon stated on X. “We have activated the hospital network and are closely monitoring this news, which is so painful for democracy and sad for our Forces. In that area, FARC dissidents and the Gulf Clan are operating.”
Video emerging from the scene shows the helicopters slowly approaching a landing zone. From the angle where the video was taken, the helicopter’s landing and the attack are obscured, but the sound of an explosion is heard and blackish gray smoke is seen wafting up.
Another video, reportedly taken by the attackers, shows a different view of the aftermath of the strike. None of these videos, however, clearly depicts the method of attack.
At least 12 people aboard the helicopter were killed. Colombian President Gustavo Petro blamed the helicopter attack, along with a car bomb strike on a Colombian military base, on dissident factions of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group that have rejected a 2016 peace agreement to end a prolonged internal conflict that has left more than 450,000 dead in the country.
This incident highlights several disturbing developments, especially regarding the vulnerability of helicopters to drone attacks. That concern directly led to South Korea cancelling a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy 36 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters.
Yu Yong-weon, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly belonging to the People Power Party, told The Korea Times that the vulnerability of helicopters to proliferated air defenses and loitering munitions/drones that have been showcased to the world in Ukraine spurred the decision.
“Drones and smart systems are redefining the modern battlefield,” Yu explained. “Rather than clinging to expensive legacy platforms, we must invest in capabilities that reflect the future of warfare.”
We previously predicted that drone attacks on helicopters would become a major problem. The danger is rising due to the widespread proliferation of weaponized drones across the world. This is in addition to all the other growing threats that put helicopters, especially those approaching contested landing zones, in the crosshairs.
As we noted in a previous story: Beyond traditional ground-based air defenses, which are becoming far more capable and deeply integrated/networked at an accelerating rate, helicopters have to now contend with FPV drones and loitering SAMs, as well as loitering interceptor drones, that can be used against rotary wing aircraft, as well. Countermeasures to some of these threats really have not caught up. The threat posed by drones, in general, has also vastly reinvigorated proliferation of short-range air defenses for counter-UAS needs, but many of these systems can also engage helicopters. Then there is the aerial threat, with fighter and support aircraft becoming more capable of spotting low and slow flying helicopters thanks to advanced sensors. The distances involved with future wars alone could relegate even the most advanced traditional helicopters into support roles. All this creates an increasingly complex and unpredictable operational reality for military helicopters, even in low-to-medium threat environments.
You can see a Russian helicopter being attacked by a Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) drone in the following video.
The risk posed to helicopters from small weaponized drones, especially FPV types, is rapidly expanding as this technology migrates to state and non-state actors around the globe. Small teams using a guided weapon against a helicopter used to require having man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), also known as shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles, or at least an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), the latter of which only really works when engaging a helicopter within a narrow window of its performance envelope. Basically, this includes when it is landing, taking off or sitting on the ground. These are both expensive, hard-to-obtain weapons that require proprietary support.
A FPV drone, on the other hand, can be obtained easily and for a fraction of the cost and can fly out to an incoming helicopter and blow it out of the sky with extreme agility and precision. Acting in a point defense role, defending key areas where helicopters may approach, can now be done by a couple of guys and their FPV drones. They can also react fast and don’t have to expose themselves to engage an airborne target, unlike a MANPADS or ATGM fire team. The drones can also be reused if they do not find a target, meaning they can actively patrol for incoming helicopters, if need be.
This is creating a whole new set of problems for helicopter crews. The launch of the drones cannot be detected by onboard missile approach warning systems and the drones are very small, making them hard to identify and evade. Electronic warfare systems are perhaps the best possible defense against these threats, but there has been slow movement when it comes to adapting such systems for helicopters. There is also the reality that fiber optic wire-controlled FPV drones give off no radio frequency emissions and are not jammable. They are also well-suited for providing point defense against helicopters, as their wires have a far lower chance of getting hung up when going after an aircraft in the air.
Obviously, these issues are especially vexing for the special operations rotary-wing community, which goes after targets in contested areas against groups that can easily access this technology.
Once again, the FPV threat is in addition to the growing threats to helicopters from advanced integrated air defense systems, next-generation MANPADS, advanced look-down radars on fighters and AEW&C aircraft, as well as drone interceptors and more advanced loitering munitions. All of this is putting the helicopter’s future efficacy in many mission sets in question. AI will fuse with lower-end drones in the near future making them capable of autonomous air defense operations, as well. This will allow persistent air patrols in areas where enemy helicopter traffic is most likely to occur, including behind enemy lines.
The attack in Colombia comes months after we reported that rebels fighting Myanmar’s junta say they used an FPV drone to down an Mi-17 Hip transport helicopter attempting to land with supplies.
Footage emerged on social media showing the video feed of what purported to be an FPV drone operated by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) careening toward the helicopter, which was hovering just a few feet off the ground at the time. The video cuts off as the FPV drone gets right next to the helicopter’s rotor blades. The video then shows a different angle of what appears to be a small explosion amongst the Mi-17’s rotors. The helicopter reportedly later crashed a short distance away, killing everyone on board.
Myanmar’s military government, however, chalked the crash up to mechanical failure. The War Zone cannot independently verify either claim, although it is generally understood a drone took it down.
Another troubling aspect of this crash is how drug organizations in the Western Hemisphere are increasing the use of drones to execute attacks.
We have reported frequently about how Mexican cartels have been using drones as weapons against rivals and government targets. These groups even reportedly sent members to fight for the Russians against Ukraine to learn how to use FPV drones.
Colombian rebels began using weaponized drones in April 2024, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Since then, “the military here says there have been 301 strikes with unmanned aerial vehicles, more than two-thirds of them in Cauca and Norte de Santander provinces,” the Journal noted. “Both regions are covered in coca, the plant used to make cocaine, with heavily armed militias fighting each other over drug routes. At least 22 soldiers and police officers have died in the attacks.”
Beyond those concerns are reports that Russians are training the Colombian groups how to fight with drones, another sign of how lessons learned in the war in Ukraine are being spread globally.
“Russian contractors and former military personnel are also training FARC dissidents and ELN groups in the use and modification of explosive drones,” the Colombian El Tiempo news outlet reported back in June. “They are doing so from Venezuelan territory, with the knowledge and support of that country’s government, highlighting the growing foreign interference in the Colombian conflict.”
“We know that Russia and Iran support Venezuela with technical capabilities, and from there, Colombian combatants are being trained,” the publication added, citing an anonymous military source.
The attack on the CNP helicopter is the latest iteration of the guerrillas’ drone war.
“Dissidents already employ swarm tactics, microdrones, and some modified devices with thermal cameras and alternating frequencies to evade jammers,” El Tiempo noted. “These drone attacks have left four soldiers dead and more than 50 uniformed personnel injured, as well as one civilian killed and seven injured.”
The claim that the Colombian rebels trained in Venezuela raises the specter that these efforts were conducted with the approval or knowledge of that country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro. As we wrote earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered several warships and thousands of troops deployed toward Venezuela. At least part of that movement is directly aimed at Maduro, a source familiar with the operations told us. His administration considers Maduro a “narco-terrorist.”
Meanwhile, the overall use of drones by drug and insurgent groups is raising alarm bells in Washington.
As we have written in the past, there are increasing concerns that Mexican cartels could expand their use of drones across the border as the Trump administration ramps up its pressure on these groups. That has led the general in charge of the border security and drone interdiction efforts to seek greater permission to shoot down drones.
Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot testified to the House Armed Services Committee in April that since Trump took office, he “proposed … a change to the rule of force.” It would “allow us to shoot down or bring down drones that are surveilling over our deployed and mobile troops … not just that are in self-defense, but anything that’s surveilling and planning the next attack on us within five miles of the border.”
“Because they’re mobile,” U.S. troops on the border are not allowed to take down drones under current law, Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), added. You can read more about the various limitations on the military’s use of force against drones in the United States in our deep dive here.
As the evolution of the weaponized low-end drone continues to accelerate, the threat to helicopters from them will only increase. As it sits now, there is not much being done at scale to combat it, so more of these incidents are likely to hit headlines in the coming months and years.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com