Israel destroys Mi-17 helicopter fleet near Iranian capital

The Israeli Air Force struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps helicopters at two Tehran-area aviation facilities, with the Israel Defense Forces releasing footage of the attacks showing the destruction of Mi-17 series helicopters at Fat’h Heliport in Karaj, west of the Iranian capital.

Aviation analyst Babak Taghvaee confirmed the scope of the strikes, identifying the targeted aircraft and the weapon used. “Early this morning, the Israeli Air Force targeted helicopters of the IRGC Ground Force Aviation Branch as well as Yas Helicopter Services Company at Fat’h Heliport in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran,” Taghvaee said. “They published footage showing the destruction of Mi-17V-5 and Mi-171E helicopters using Delilah cruise missiles.”

The released IDF footage shows the strikes hitting helicopter airframes on the ground. At least one of the aircraft destroyed had been visibly non-operational prior to the strike — footage indicates the helicopter was parked without rotor blades, suggesting it was already out of service or undergoing maintenance when it was hit. The strikes nonetheless eliminated the airframes, denying any future restoration or cannibalization of parts.

The weapon identified in the attack, the Delilah cruise missile, is an Israeli-developed loitering munition and precision strike system capable of striking fixed and relocatable targets at standoff range. Originally developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, Delilah is designed to be launched from aircraft and can loiter over a target area before executing a terminal attack, giving operators flexibility to confirm targets before impact. Its use against helicopter assets parked at established aviation facilities reflects the precision required to strike urban-adjacent military infrastructure without the blast radius of larger munitions.

The Mi-17V-5 and Mi-171E are variants of the Russian-designed Mi-17 medium transport helicopter family, widely operated by military and paramilitary aviation units across the Middle East and Central Asia. The IRGC Ground Force Aviation Branch uses the type for troop transport, logistics support, and potentially special operations insertion — roles that give the platform direct relevance to Iranian ground force mobility.

Destroying these airframes, whether fully operational or not, degrades the IRGC’s rotary-wing capacity and signals Israeli willingness to strike aviation assets deep inside Iranian territory, including in the immediate vicinity of the capital.

Fat’h Heliport in Karaj, named in Taghvaee’s assessment, serves IRGC aviation elements operating west of Tehran. Its targeting alongside Mehrabad — a major international and military aviation hub within Tehran itself — indicates the strike package was planned to address IRGC helicopter assets across multiple facilities in a coordinated operation rather than a single-point attack.

The strikes are the latest in a sustained Israeli air campaign that has targeted Iranian military infrastructure, air defense systems, missile production facilities, and now rotary-wing aviation assets across multiple locations inside Iran.