Ukraine eyes cutting-edge AH‑1Z Viper helicopters amidst Slovak hesitancy

The current Slovak government is hesitant about the previous administration's agreement to purchase AH-1Z Viper helicopters at a substantial discount in exchange for donating MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukrainians are very eager to acquire the AH-1Z Viper. What can these machines do, and why are they considered unique?

According to the Defense News portal, Slovakia's current government is more interested in acquiring a medium-range air defence system and F-16 aircraft than 12 AH-1Z Viper helicopters.

Especially considering that the price of the potential sale of 12 Vipers to Slovakia, approved by the U.S. State Department under the Foreign Military Sale procedure, has increased to £492 million from the initially offered £278 million.

The stalled negotiations between Bratislava and Washington have not escaped the notice of the Ukrainians, who, as acknowledged in a statement to Defense News by Vadym Ivchenko, a Ukrainian MP from the Batkivshchyna party, have been trying to acquire these helicopters from the USA since 2022.

Additionally, as a member of the parliamentary National Security, Defence, and Intelligence Committee, Vadym Ivchenko was reported to have written a letter to U.S. lawmakers to persuade the Biden administration to redirect the Vipers to Kyiv as soon as possible (if Slovakia rejects them). Ukraine is also making efforts to locate a Bell company factory within Ukraine.

Designed by Bell and introduced into service in 2010 with the Marines, the AH-1Z Viper is a very extensive development of the AH-1 SuperCobra helicopter, which is an evolution of the famous AH-1 Cobra. This helicopter became the template for nearly all current assault helicopters, characterised by a narrow fuselage and tandem seating for pilots (one above the other).

The AH-1Z Viper can carry as much anti-tank armament as the AH-64E Apache Guardian while being faster and cheaper to operate. According to American data from 2021, an hour's flight of the AH-1Z Viper cost £3,725, while the competing Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian cost £5,249.

The armament of the AH-1Z Viper includes a three-barrel 20-mm (0.8-inch) M197 cannon located under the fuselage with an effective range of up to 2 kilometres (1 mile) and four pylons for launching unguided Hydra rockets or their guided APKWS variants and anti-tank AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

Additionally, the AH-1Z Viper has the capability to use air-to-air missiles, making it the only assault helicopter currently in service that can independently shoot down jet fighters such as the Su-30 or Su-35.

Standardly, helicopters can carry missiles used in MANPADS sets such as the FIM-92 Stinger with a range of up to 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) for targets at altitudes up to about 3.8 kilometres (2 miles). Meanwhile, the AH-1Z Viper can carry a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles on the wingtips, including the AIM-9X version with a range estimated at slightly over 20 kilometres (12 miles) (when launched at low altitude).

During the MSPO 2022 fair, we learned that, in practice, the AH-1Z Viper can shoot down, for instance, a Ka-52 Alligator before it detects the Viper with its onboard radar. Moreover, the pilots of these helicopters undergo training that includes air-to-air combat scenarios.

For this reason, the AH-1Z Viper helicopters (ideally equipped with self-defence systems that blind incoming missiles with a laser beam, known as DIRCM, and electronic warfare pods like the AN/ALQ-231 Intrepid Tiger II or similar) could be an ideal design for the Ukrainian battlefield, where the Russians currently have significant air superiority.