Ukraine JUST Turned an OLD Soviet Weapon Into a Flying “AIRCRAFT CARRIER”

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Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join  Ukraine’s military has transformed Soviet-era Mil Mi-8 helicopters and Antonov An-28 light turboprops into airborne drone carriers. By mounting high-speed F7 Litavr and P1-Sun interceptor drones directly onto wing pylons, these modified platforms hunt Russian Shahed UAVs in flight. Discover how air-launched counter-drone technology provides altitude, range, and cost advantages to shield Ukrainian skies without expending expensive surface-to-air missiles.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Ukraine Converts Soviet Helicopters into Flying Drone Carriers 00:35 - Design History & Origins of the Mil Mi-8 Helicopter 03:19 - Cold War Service, Afghan War & Global Heavyweight Legacy 05:21 - Repurposing Legacy Hardware: From KS-19 Guns to Mi-8 Choppers 07:31 - Arming Mi-8 Pylons with F7 Litavr Interceptor Drones 09:04 - Independence Day Reveal & Cockpit Control Capabilities 10:34 - Overcoming Machine Gun Inefficiencies in Anti-Drone Patrols 11:20 - Tactical Advantages: Extended Battery Life and Stand-off Launches 12:56 - Precedent: Tymur Fatkullin's Antonov An-28 Interceptor Platform 15:10 - Neutralizing Russia's Mass Drone Attrition Strategy  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/Ls1kbLKs

Transcript

00:01The Ukrainian military has an uncanny ability to take weapons that the rest of the world would call old, outdated

00:07or even worthless,

00:09make a few simple changes and transform them into valuable weapons of war.

00:13We've seen them do it with fighter jets, howitzers and even anti-aircraft guns.

00:18And now they've done it again, this time with a helicopter.

00:21A Soviet-era helicopter to be exact, which has been magically transformed into a flying aircraft carrier by Ukraine's extraordinary

00:30engineers.

00:31To understand the enormity of this feat, it's important to first understand what Ukraine was working with when it started

00:37out.

00:38Introducing the MIL-MI-8, a family of medium twin turbine helicopters,

00:44originally designed by the MIL Design Bureau, OKB-329 in the early 1960s,

00:49and officially introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968.

00:54The design was the brainchild of Mikhail Mil himself,

00:58a Soviet and Russian aerospace engineer and founder of the MIL Moscow helicopter plant.

01:04It already created the successful MIL-MI-4 and MIL-MI-6,

01:08and he wanted to take the next step in military helicopter development with a two-engine turbine helicopter,

01:14but came up against stern resistance from Soviet military officials,

01:18who argued that the MI-4 was perfectly sufficient for their needs.

01:22Not willing to accept defeat,

01:24Mil argued that his new design was more of an update than a brand-new creation.

01:28His tactic worked.

01:30The Council of Ministers decided to support production of the MI-8,

01:33and the first prototype, nicknamed the V-8, rolled off production lines in 1958.

01:38It was like a MI-4 with just one engine, but with a larger cabin than its predecessor,

01:44and it was proudly shown off at the Soviet Aviation Day parade of July 1961.

01:50In the meantime, Nikita Khrushchev had visited the United States on official business,

01:55and experienced the luxury of the presidential S-58 helicopter.

02:00Upon returning to the Soviet Union, he ordered that a similar helicopter be created as quickly as possible.

02:05Mil took advantage of this opportunity to persuade Khrushchev that his twin-engine MI-8 design would be perfect for

02:12the job.

02:12Having gained the approval of the chairman of the Council of Ministers,

02:16Mil was allowed to bring his true vision to life at last.

02:19For the first time in Soviet history, purpose-built engines had to be specially crafted for a new military helicopter,

02:26rather than simply being adapted from existing fixed-wing aircraft.

02:29A new main rotor gearbox was also designed especially for the MI-8 in another Soviet first,

02:35and after several different prototypes, the design was officially complete.

02:39And when the Soviet military saw how valuable the American Bell UH-1 helicopter was in the Vietnam War for

02:46moving troops in and out of battlefield areas,

02:49it invested heavily in Mikhail Mil's design.

02:51Thus began the long and storied military history of the MI-8,

02:56which has been improved and updated many times over the years,

02:59and is still being produced to this day,

03:02making it the world's most produced helicopter of all time.

03:05Now, quick side notes before we dig a little deeper into the MI-8.

03:09Along with our regular reporting,

03:11the military show also offers exclusive video insights and analysis just for members.

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03:18Over the years, the MI-8 became a stalwart of the Soviet military.

03:24Large numbers of these helicopters were used in the Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s, for example,

03:29and many were seen dropping radiation-absorbing materials over Chernobyl

03:33in the wake of the nuclear power plant disaster in a unique display of the design's versatility.

03:39The MI-8 services continued after the Soviet Union's collapse,

03:43with many of these helicopters also being exported to dozens of countries all around the world,

03:47from Asia to South America and beyond.

03:50They've been used in a wide variety of ways,

03:53from classic transport helicopters to airborne command posts,

03:57armed gunships, mine layers, and even electronic warfare platforms.

04:01And even in the 2020s, this helicopter remains a reliable workhorse,

04:06but is certainly beginning to show its age.

04:08The original design is over 60 years old after all,

04:11and many of the MI-8s made during the Soviet era are reaching or surpassing their structural safety limits,

04:17with Russian officials announcing in late 2025 that around 300 of the country's oldest airframes would soon be retired.

04:25Many models lack the kind of modern electronic warfare countermeasures and advanced armour

04:30needed to survive in today's high-intensity battlefields,

04:33and their relatively basic cockpit layouts and mechanical components

04:37struggle to compete with the latest and greatest Western competitors.

04:41And in a war that's become dominated by autonomous drones and long-range precision munitions,

04:46it may seem as though there's not really any room left for a basic helicopter from a bygone era.

04:51The stats appear to back this up, as the open-source intelligence group, Oryx,

04:56notes that both Russia and Ukraine have lost dozens of MI-8s in the war so far.

05:01Over 50 have either been damaged or outright destroyed on the Russian side,

05:05while Ukraine has lost an estimated 29 MI-8s so far.

05:09As a result, tactical planners on both sides might reasonably conclude that the best course of action from this point

05:15onward

05:16would be to ground their remaining MI-8s and only use them if they have no other options,

05:21rather than risk losing any more.

05:23But Ukraine doesn't work that way.

05:26It doesn't like to waste the assets at its disposal.

05:28It doesn't retire military vehicles or pieces of equipment just because some might say they're a little outdated.

05:34Instead, Ukraine looks to make the most of every bit of hardware it has, even if that involves some out

05:40-of-the-box thinking.

05:42We've seen so many examples of this over the course of the war so far.

05:46Time and time again, Ukraine's military engineers have found ingenious new uses for old systems

05:51or extracted extraordinary value from weapons and vehicles that their Western allies were ready to send to the scrap heap.

05:58Look at the KS-19 for example.

06:00This 100mm anti-aircraft gun was designed in 1947, making it almost 80 years old by the time the war

06:08in Ukraine began.

06:09It's bulky, heavy and slow by modern standards, lacking any of the digital tracking or radar systems seen in modern

06:16anti-aircraft systems.

06:18On the face of it, it has almost no value whatsoever in a 21st century conflict.

06:23That's the conclusion that the Russian armed forces clearly came to because when they took control of the Ukrainian town

06:29of Balaklyeh in the Kharkiv region early on in the war,

06:33they found close to 200 KS-19s in local warehouses but decided to leave them in place.

06:38Ukraine eventually regained control of the area and decided to repurpose some of those old anti-aircraft guns, using them

06:45instead for direct strikes on ground-based targets.

06:48One brigade even attached a KS-19 to an old military man truck, turning it from a towed anti-aircraft

06:54gun into a self-propelled artillery system.

06:57It was a stroke of genius, and Kyiv's forces have taken that same spirit of innovation and applied it to

07:03the Mi-8 in order to ensure that this decades-old transport chopper remains relevant in its war with Russia.

07:10As drones became a larger part of the conflict, Kyiv's Mi-8s were equipped with an array of machine guns

07:16to intercept them.

07:17Then, they were fitted with electro-optical targeting systems to aid with target detection and searchlights to allow them to

07:24hunt in low-light conditions.

07:26These changes allowed the Mi-8 to continue to take to the skies in contested areas and cope with a

07:32Russian drone threat.

07:33Now, Ukraine has gone much, much further.

07:36It's transformed the Mi-8 into an airborne drone launch platform by attaching interceptor UAVs directly onto the helicopter's external

07:44weapon pylons.

07:46F-7 Litavra interceptor drones, to be precise, which are produced domestically in Ukraine by the company F-Drones.

07:52According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, these drones, which are named after a traditional Cossack drum, can reach peak

08:00speeds of 350 kilometers, or 220 miles per hour, and travel to heights of around 9,000 meters, or 29

08:07,500 feet.

08:09They have an operational range of around 40 kilometers, or 25 miles, though there are reports of some units travelling

08:16up to twice that distance.

08:17And the key feature that separates these interceptor drones from other models is their automatic terminal guidance system, otherwise known

08:25as the last mile, or pixel lock system.

08:27Once a target has been identified, the drone's autonomous navigation takes over to guide it to the point of impact,

08:34with the human pilot only having to control the system's speed rather than its flight path.

08:39If no targets are detected, the pilot can switch their drone to safe mode and bring it back to base,

08:45so it can be reused rather than wasted.

08:47It's a smart and efficient design, and these F-7 UAVs are already playing active roles, alongside Ukraine's other interceptor

08:55drones encountering Russia's own drones.

08:59Now, before we look more closely at how this state-of-the-art interceptor technology has been cleverly combined with

09:05a Cold War helicopter, you're watching the military show.

09:08And if you haven't subscribed yet, now's the time.

09:11The new and improved MIL-MI-8 was shown off as part of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Independence Day address

09:18on August 24, 2026.

09:21A video clip showed one drone being launched from a metal guide rail mounted on an MI-8 hardpoint.

09:27It was only a brief piece of footage, but there was still more than enough for military experts to analyze

09:33and learn quite a lot from,

09:34though opinions are divided on the specifics of how the helicopter actually works.

09:39Some reports suggest that the drones may be controlled directly from inside the MI-8's cockpit, for example,

09:46while others believe that they may be controlled remotely via Starlink satellites instead.

09:51Expert assessments also differ as to how many drones each helicopter could theoretically carry.

09:56Defence Express, for example, reports that a single MI-8 could potentially carry up to 12 interceptors,

10:02with two mounted on each of its six pylons.

10:05Militani, meanwhile, states that each helicopter can carry a minimum of six interceptors,

10:10with at least three launchers fitted either side of the airframe.

10:13Its report also notes that the MI-8 has most likely been fitted with some sort of optical station

10:19that would allow it to visually detect aerial threats prior to launching drones.

10:23And several experts have suggested that, in addition to the F-7, the MI-8 could potentially be configured to

10:30carry other kinds of interceptors in the future.

10:32Regardless of the specifics, this may very well be one of, if not the most extraordinary example we've seen so

10:39far,

10:39of the Ukrainian military repurposing a seemingly outdated system.

10:43MI-8 crews have been hunting down Russia's Shahid-type drones since 2024,

10:48but they were always limited in terms of what weapons they could actually use to tackle the UAVs they encountered.

10:54Footage from their missions showed that they relied largely on the likes of 7.62mm PKT machine guns,

11:01or US-supplied M134 miniguns, for example, and secondary helicopters,

11:07equipped with optical tracking systems, were often deployed to provide intelligence and support.

11:12It worked, but it was inefficient. Countless rounds of ammunition were wasted,

11:17and if one of the weapons operator's aim wasn't quite right,

11:20a Russian Shahid could easily strike the helicopter and send it spiraling out of the air.

11:24Russia's drone operators could also simply take alternative routes to remain out of the range of the MI-8's guns.

11:31These new drone-launching helicopters will be much more of a serious threat for the Kremlin's forces to contend with.

11:37They give MI-8 pilots greater range, accuracy, and lethality when dealing with the Russian swarms,

11:43and if each helicopter can carry between 6 and 12 drones,

11:46that means it could engage and eliminate up to a dozen Russian UAVs during a single sortie using its interceptors

11:53alone,

11:53before heading back to base to rearm.

11:55This unique innovation also extends the reach of interceptors like the F-7 Litavra.

12:01Typically, they can only fly for a few dozen kilometers and loiter in the air for a matter of minutes

12:05before running out of power,

12:07meaning that they have to be deployed quite close to whatever they're intending to attack,

12:11and can't remain airborne for too long before either targeting an enemy drone or switching to safe mode and flying

12:17back to base.

12:18The MI-8, however, can take off from safe spaces within Ukrainian territory,

12:23cover great distances at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour, 155 miles per hour,

12:29and carry its interceptors closer to contested zones or frontline locations,

12:34waiting until the time is right to launch them, preserving their limited power supplies,

12:38and giving each one the very best chance of a successful strike.

12:42Interceptor drones are already changing the course of this war,

12:45with Ukraine increasingly relying on systems like the Wild Hornet Sting and Skyfall P-1 Sun to down dozens of

12:52Russian UAVs on a daily basis.

12:54This new and improved MI-8 will make these assets even more effective,

12:58and we already have a prime example of what this kind of technology is capable of.

13:03Back in April of 2026, reports revealed that a Ukrainian pilot named Timur Fatkulin

13:08had converted an old Anatov AN-28 light turboprop plane into an airborne interceptor platform.

13:15He mounted P-1 Sun and Merops AS-3 surveyor interceptor drones onto hardpoints,

13:21situated beneath the plane's wings, before putting his creation to test in real battlefield conditions.

13:26Aircraft launched P-1 Sun interceptor against hostile Shahids.

13:30This method has already proven effective in real combat conditions.

13:34We've also tested several other interceptor drones during training flights.

13:38You could call it a cheap air-to-air missile.

13:40For us, it's also a step toward technology that will allow drones to operate in zero visibility.

13:46Just like the Mi-8, the AN-28 was widely considered to be quite an outdated airframe.

13:52It first took flight in 1969, before entering large-scale production in the mid-1970s and officially entering service in

14:001986.

14:01It was used as a short-range airliner and utility aircraft,

14:05and a small number remain in service today with regional airlines in Russia, but most military models have been retired.

14:12Few people would have thought that this decades-old plane would be able to provide much value in a war

14:17that involves

14:17AI-powered drones, robotic armoured vehicles, and supersonic missile systems, but one Ukrainian pilot thought differently.

14:25He believed that there was still some life and value in this Soviet-era airframe, so he did what few

14:30would dare to do.

14:31He made some modifications, then put his own life on the line by flying his modernized turboprop into contested airspace

14:38to confront Russian drones.

14:40And it didn't just work, it thrived.

14:42A mere month after the first reports of his AN-28 interceptor platform emerged,

14:48Fat Kulin claimed that he had already managed to destroy over 200 enemy drones using a combination of interceptors

14:54and the plane's onboard weapon systems, which include a six-barrel M134 minigun.

14:59It's a remarkable success story, and there's every chance that the new Mi-8 configuration can experience similar,

15:06if not greater, success in the months to come.

15:08It could even pave the way for a whole host of new interceptor aircraft carriers that would allow Ukraine to

15:14take its interceptor fleet to the next level,

15:16enjoying instant altitude, longer loiter times, and the ability to vector towards their target using their onboard sensors before they

15:23even take off.

15:24This is particularly important at the moment, because Russia is more reliant on its drones than ever before.

15:30Tanks and armoured vehicles have failed to make the kind of territorial gains that the Kremlin's commanders were hoping for.

15:35Frontline assault squads are also being routinely nullified,

15:39and Ukraine has even managed to gain some ground in certain areas over the course of 2026,

15:44pushing the Russians back and reclaiming lost land.

15:47Many of Russia's other tactics have failed to yield tangible benefits on the battlefield,

15:52and the Kremlin is finding it harder and harder to recruit the tens of thousands of new troops.

15:56It actually needs to maintain any sort of serious frontline pressure,

16:00which is one of the reasons that Moscow may be planning some sort of mobilisation towards the end of the

16:05year.

16:05Even if it goes ahead with that and brings in more soldiers, its problems are likely to persist.

16:11The Ukrainian armed forces are heavily entrenched in key areas and have fine-tuned their strategies

16:15when it comes to fending off assaults and holding onto the most important cities and settlements.

16:21Russia's only hope is drones.

16:22All it can do is keep making more of them each month and sending vast swarms,

16:27made up of hundreds of individual UAVs over the border and into Ukraine

16:31to lay waste to the country's military and civilian infrastructure,

16:35hoping that the pressure will eventually prove too much for Kyiv to cope with.

16:38But as long as Ukraine can continue to find bigger, better and smarter ways to counteract those drones,

16:44then it has every chance of withstanding Russia's aerial assault,

16:47while continuing to wreak havoc on refineries, logistics and other targets via its own drone strikes.

16:53And so the war will likely slip further into a grinding attritional affair,

16:57dominated almost entirely by unmanned systems,

17:00but the only question left is, which side will break first?

17:03For now, the odds appear to be in Ukraine's favour,

17:06and you can learn more about that in this video,

17:09which looks at yet another surprising Ukrainian military innovation,

17:12the use of a fishing net as a weapon of war.

17:15Alternatively, check out this video to see how Ukraine has adjusted its tactics

17:19to cope with the lack of Patriot missiles by hitting Russia's launchers at the source.

17:24And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the channel

17:26if you don't want to miss out on more breaking military reports just like this,

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