The Defense Intelligence Aviation of Ukraine (A0420) is the aerial operations wing of the Main Intelligence Directorate subordinated to the

Ministry of Defense of Ukraine The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine () is the ministry of defence, ministry of the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government that oversees national defence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the List of Ministers of De ...

. It operates a variety of rotor wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles and has seen heavy combat during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

History

It has seen combat on multiple occasions during the

utilizing various types of helicopters. Its helicopters took part in the

Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia) and the Ukrainian ...

along with those of the Ukrainian Army Aviation to evacuate wounded from Azovstal. On January 20, 2023, the special forces unit "Wings" under the HUR aviation announced the creation of a flotilla of FPV drones, purchasing 1,000 UAVs and it was completed on 23 April 2023. On 14 January 2024, a Russian A-50U was destroyed and an

Il-22M The Ilyushin Il-18 (; NATO reporting name: Coot) is a large turboprop airliner that first flew in 1957 and became one of the best known Soviet aircraft of its era. The Il-18 was one of the world's principal airliners for several decades and wa ...

was damaged in a joint operation by HUR and

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...

, and on 19 April 2024, a Russian

Tu-22 The Tupolev Tu-22 ( Air Standardization Coordinating Committee name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with Long-Range Aviation and Soviet Nava ...

M3 was destroyed in a similar operation. On 17 April 2024, HUR UAVs attacked the 590th Radio-technical unit in

Kovylkino Kovylkino (; , ''Lašma oš'') is a town in the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, located southwest of Saransk on the left bank of the Moksha River (a tributary of the Oka). Population: History Town status was granted to it in 1960. Administra ...

, destroying the 29B6 Container, about 680 kilometers from the border.Воєнна розвідка України. На морі, у небі, на землі
/ref> On 24 April 2024, HUR UAVs attacked the

Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant The Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, also known as NLMK, () is a Soviet and Russian metallurgical plant located in the Left Bank district of Lipetsk. The largest steel plant in Russia and the 17th in the world in terms of production in 2018. Full ...

. On 26 May 2024, it attacked and destroyed a Russian

Voronezh radar Voronezh radars () are the current generation of Russian early-warning radar, providing long distance monitoring of airspace against ballistic missile attack and aircraft monitoring. The first radar, in Lekhtusi near St Petersburg, became ope ...

Orsk Orsk () is the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the steppe about southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The city straddles the Ural River. Population: It lies adjacent to the Kazakhstan–Russia border. ...

. On 8 June 2024, its UAVs struck the Akhtubinsk airbase in the

Astrakhan Oblast Astrakhan Oblast (; ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southern Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,010,073. Geography Astrakhan's southern border is the ...

destroying a

Su-57 The Sukhoi Su-57 (; NATO reporting name: Felon) is a Twinjet, twin-engine stealth aircraft, stealth Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft developed by Sukhoi. It is the product of the PAK FA (, prospective aeronautical comp ...

, it was the first fifth generation aircraft to be destroyed in the war. On 9 June 2024, the Ukrainian

HUR Hur or HUR may refer to: People * Hur (Korean name), also spelled Heo * Hur (Bible), a number of biblical figures * Hur-ul-Nisa Begum, first of the fourteen children of Mumtaz Mahal Places * Hur, Iran (disambiguation), a number of places * ...

claimed to have damaged two Russian Su-57 fighter jets, in the strike. However, Russian

Telegram channel Telegram, also known as Telegram Messenger, is a Cloud computing, cloud-based, Cross-platform software, cross-platform, social media and instant messaging (IM) service. It was originally launched for iOS on 14 August 2013 and Android on 20 Octo ...

Fighterbomber, stated that only one aircraft was damaged. The ISW noted the criticism that despite the value of a single Su-57 being an estimated $35 million, it wasn't protected by a hanger. On 16 August 2024, it struck the Savasleyka airfield with UAVs destroying three aircraft including a

MiG-31 The Mikoyan MiG-31 (; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft developed for the Soviet Air Forces by the Mikoyan design bureau as a replacement for the earlier MiG-25 "Foxbat"; the MiG-31 is based on and shares de ...

K/I and damaging five more.

Inventory

Several types of

FPV drone First-person view (FPV), also known as remote-person view (RPV), or video piloting, is a method used to control a radio-controlled vehicle from the driver or pilot's viewpoint. Most commonly it is used to pilot a radio-controlled aircraft or oth ...

s are also under its operation.

Structure

* Management and Headquarters * Commandant Platoon * Helicopter Squadron * UAV Squadron "Wings"

References

{{Military of Ukraine Aviation in Ukraine Army aviation Military units and formations established in 1992 Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine