In an age where long-range warfare is increasingly becoming the norm, the need for fast, armored, and heavily armed attack helicopters that can get close to enemy targets might seem anachronistic. 

Meet the Top 5 Attack Helicopters Flying Right Now 

In fact, however, helicopters continue to be an essential platform for modern combat. In this list, from least to greatest, you will track the top 5 attack helicopters in the world.

5. The Changhe Z-10

A light helicopter, China’s Changhe Z-10 is that country’s first ever indigenous attack helicopter (though it was produced with input from Russia’s Kamov Design Bureau). This helicopter is a unique design with obvious stealth features. Many critics have labeled this helo as little more than rip-off of the American AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, but in terms of its stealth capabilities, at least on paper, it is more advanced than the US Apache helo (though it is highly untested in the crucible of combat, which is the only reason this bird is not closer to number one).

The Z-10 has been on display during various significant Chinese military exercises. First introduced in 2012, the Chinese military has over 200 of these birds, yet again proving Mao’s old quip that “quantity has a quality all of its own.” 

But China’s quality is catching up to the United States, especially when they align the design with Russia, as Beijing did when creating the Z-10. 

This is one of the best – most promising – modern attack helicopters of all time.

4. The Eurocopter Tiger

General Ourumov and his hench-lady, Xenia Onatopp, after wreaking havoc throughout the hit 1995 James Bond classic film, Goldeneye, break onto a supposedly secure French warship, dress as French pilots, and steal what was dubbed as one of the most sophisticated attack helicopters of its era, the Eurocopter Tiger. 

And while so much about the James Bond films—notably Goldeneye—are over-the-top, the key part that the Eurocopter played is accurate. 

A joint project between the French and German militaries, this is the most recent attack helo to come from Western Europe. Over 180 units of this attack bird have been built, and this baby is the definition of interoperability. 

The Eurocopter is a regular consortium of Western nations’ armaments. Everything from German to French to Spanish and even Australian weapons systems are compatible with this amazing rotor-wing aircraft. 

This helicopter is a composite layout, with a full 80% of the airframe made from advanced carbon laminates, Kevlar, and honeycomb-shaped structures, according to Aerotime.aero.

This bird is on its third upgrade, with deliveries of the Mark Three expected sometime in 2029. Working in necessary lessons-learned from the Ukraine War, this helo embraces anti-tank missile capabilities and tougher comms system. 

Alas, the Eurocopter is running headlong into some funding woes. 

Germany is continuing with its plan to retire all Eurocopter models by 2038, beginning in 2031. Thus, Berlin will no longer be funding the Eurocopter program, and that is likely going to force an end to the development of the Mk3. 

Still, this is a helo that has become synonymous with bada**ery.

3. The Mil Mi-24 Hind

I once heard a colleague quip, “Stingers are meant for Hinds.” 

Indeed, the failed Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was defined by a brutal air war, conducted in part by the Mil Mi-24 Hind. According to the Czech Republic military’s website, “The characteristic feature of Mi-24 is a cockpit prolonged to a cargo compartment.” This is better described as an “attack helicopter with a low troop carrying capacity.” 

This thing even has a full-blown onboard crew. And it’s a behemoth, typical of Russian military design. There’s a revolving turret with a four-barrel rotating 9A624 machine gun of 12.7 mm caliber, with a supply of 1,470 cartridges. Four additional mountings can carry four blocks of UB-32 (possessing 32 pieces of S-5 missiles, of 57mm caliber), four 250 kg air bombs, or two 500 kg bombs. The Hind also has four air-to-ground 122 mm rockets. 

Mounted at each wingtip are two anti-tank guided missiles.

In my best Billy Mays voice, “But wait there’s more!” 

Russia further reinforced this bird with B-8V blocks of S-8 type of 80mm caliber, cannon containers UPK-23-250 with two-barrel cannon Gs-23L having a supply of 250 cartridges, universal weapons containers, and automatic grenade launchers. This beast has a maximum speed of 229 miles per hour and a range of 280 miles. 

The Hind can carry 26,500 pounds when fully loaded and hit a range of 280 miles. The Hind continues to be a dominant player throughout the world, one of the former Soviet Union’s most successful exports.

2. The AH-64 Apache

Built for the U.S. Army shortly after the Vietnam War, this heavily armored and massively armed attack helicopter was first conceived as a multi-role helo. That went out the window once Army pilots got behind it and realized the kind of potency this thing could unleash upon a target. More than 800 units have been built over the last 30 years, with multiple variants in use, including some of the originals. 

The most recent, the AH-64E Apache, is just coming online and is designed to continue its legendary service until, according to Boeing, the 2060s.

Not only is this iconic bird the defining U.S. attack helicopter, it might very well be the defining attack helicopter of all time. It’s such a popular platform that dozens of allied countries have bought scores of these systems for their own arsenals. That includes the British military, by the way. 

From Panama in the 1980s to the Global War on Terror, the Apache has served with distinction and delivered the required results. 

An Apache carries a wide variety of weapons. It is equipped with an M230 chain gun that fires 625 rounds per minute and can carry 16 Hellfire missiles and 76 Hydra rockets into battle. The “E” variant that is just being deployed has a Directed Energy Weapon pod.  

1. The RAH-66 Comanche

I know what you’re thinking. You’re annoyed that I am putting the world’s most famous attack helicopter that never was as my top helicopter. The RAH-66 Comanche was basically an F-22A Raptor in helicopter form. This bird was unlike any other helicopter in the world. 

Had the Comanche not been canceled in 2004, it was set to go into mass production around 2006 and fully deployed beginning in 2009. The Comanche would have been the most advanced attack helicopter ever built. It is a rare case where the specifications in the blueprints alone make this worthy of the designation as being the best attack helicopter of all time. 

The Comanche carried its weapons internally, just as the F-22 and F-35 stealth warplanes do. There were openings to install additional external weapons pylon stubs, although that would have cut down on the Comanche’s stealth capability. The internal weapons bay could be outfitted with Stinger, Starstreak, or Mistral air-to-air missiles. They could be outfitted with TOW II, Hot II, and Longbow Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, too. 

America’s RAH-66 Comanche would have revolutionized the battlefield and kept the U.S. Army ahead of its rivals for decades. Its untimely cancellation in 2004 is an enduring mistake. 

Author Experience and Expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock. 

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