Ukrainian HIMARS strike shreds Russian helicopters with tungsten warheads in precision attack

Defense Express reported the information.

Ukrainian forces have successfully used HIMARS rockets armed with tungsten-based M30A1 warheads to destroy several Russian military helicopters stationed near the Ukrainian border in Russia’s Belgorod region. The strike, carried out in late March, targeted a temporary airfield and resulted in the confirmed destruction of two Mi-28 attack helicopters and two Mi-8 transport helicopters.

Recently released video footage from the site offers a close look at the damage, showing helicopters riddled with microscopic holes from an airburst warhead packed with 180,000 pre-formed tungsten fragments. 

Experts say this type of damage renders aircraft completely beyond repair and even unsuitable for spare parts recovery.

The effectiveness of these GMLRS rounds is drawing comparisons to U.S.-supplied ATACMS cluster munitions, previously used by Ukraine. While cluster bombs cover a larger area, the GMLRS appears to provide a higher concentration of lethal fragments over a targeted zone — a capability now confirmed by the state of the destroyed helicopters.

The strike also illustrates that modern precision weapons don’t always cause Hollywood-style explosions — instead, the real destruction lies in the systematic internal failure caused by high-velocity fragment penetration.