I've played with the LAVIII /25mm quite a bit in training simulations and found that it could sure tear the a$$ out of an airmobile assault. I don't know how effective it would be against the fast movers who tend to stay high and deliver PGM these days.
There's always the 'golden BB' strategy though. During the 2003 Iraq war some smart guy on the other side had his troops lay on their backs and fire up a storm of AK47 fire for a major helicopter movement to fly through. It was a bad day, even for the Apaches. Funnily enough, the Mujadaheen liked the old Martini-Henrys against Soviet helicopters in Afghanistan because they threw out a big, heavy scab of lead which wasn't good for the rotors.
Indeed. Never mind dedicated AAA, a DShK or PKM or as you say even an AK can make for a nasty day in a helicopter, especially one flying full of troops with open doors.
You may not shoot them all, or even many, down, but just posing the threat forces the enemy to take countermeasures and reduces their effectiveness, ie by increasing stand off ranges, forcing sub optimal weapons use and occupying the pilot's time with things other than employing weapons etc etc.
Heck there were a few cases in AStan (maybe Iraq too?) of RPGs being used to hit helicopters, definitely not an ideal weapon but it sure worked a few times.
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