edit Did you know the Black Hawk is made by Sikorsky Helicopters and that Sikorsky, the founder, was from Kyiv? In a sense this is a returning home of ideas sent far afield for Ukraine.

Oh hell yeah! If Ukraine could get the UH-1Y - AH-1Z pair, those are nearly ideal C-UAS platforms and littoral security platforms especially because they are designed to be used and maintained in the field and thus are a harder anti-air defense asset to knock out with long range precision strikes. Note the extensive history of use of these platforms as manned platforms only makes it easier to integrate unmanned capability into these platforms. This is a quicker route than trying to build a similarly heavy lift rotary wing UAV from the ground up, don’t see this as a “manned vs unmanned” thing where these platforms are obsolete, quite the opposite. The long history of manned operation provides an ideal starting foundation to build autonomous capability on.

The AH-1Z Viper’s weapons system architecture is among the most flexible in any Western attack helicopter. Its primary fixed weapon is the M197 three-barreled 20mm Gatling cannon, installed in the A/A49E-7 turret under the nose. This gun can be slewed by helmet or manually aimed and has a fire rate of 750 rounds per minute, with a 750-round ammunition drum.

On the stub-wing pylons, the Viper can carry up to 16 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, including laser-guided or radar-guided variants for tank-killing, bunker-penetration, or anti-personnel missions. It is fully certified to fire the AGM-179 JAGM (Joint Air-to-Ground Missile)—a multi-mode seeker weapon combining SAL (semi-active laser) and MMW (millimeter-wave radar) guidance.

For area suppression and precision strike, the Viper carries Hydra 70mm rockets, as well as the APKWS II (Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System)—a guided version of the 70mm rocket with a laser-seeking warhead for low-collateral damage strikes. For aerial threat engagement, the helicopter can be equipped with AIM-9M or AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, giving it defensive and limited offensive air-to-air capability.

https://www.armyrecognition.com/military-products/air/helicopters/attack-helicopters/ah-1z-viper-bell

The AH-1Z can also mount the same radar as the AH-64’s Longbow millimeter wave fire control system, an ideal sensor for C-UAS roles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/APG-78_Longbow

Related recent video, note how the same UH-1Y that is used to shoot at air and ground targets with a minigun and a machine gun (also capable of carrying 70mm rockets so APKWS potentially too) is then used to rappel down and back up a crew person. This demonstration was done to emphasize practicing C-UAS in response to an emergent threat while conducting some other kind of mission, but this is also the same exact mission profile that responding to a mass drone wave would require. The UH-1Y would take off, engage the swarm with machine gun, EW and guided munitions and then after the area is cleared conduct emergency evac or even firefighting capability resulting from the mass drone wave. Needless to say a utility helicopter like the UH-1Y is useful for a dizzying array of contexts, not just war.

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1002097/wti-2-26-uh-1y-ip-fly-counter-uas

The UH-1Y/AH-1Z are sensor, surveillance and EW platforms, they aren’t just dumb utility helicopters.

The whole sequence from ~4:26 or so on where a minigun doorgunner engages a quadcopter drone hovering nearby as the UH-1Y is conducting a mock landing/low hover is particularly fascinating. This might be some of the most compelling publicly available footage of what a utility helicopter responding to a drone threat with a minigun actually looks like.

The drone shot down in the sequence around ~4:26 is recovered by the crew of the helicopter that shot it down demonstrating that not only can a utility helicopter serving as a C-UAS platform perform ad-hoc medevac, they can also secure a crash site and make sure it does not pose a threat to civilians faster than any other platform can.

Also see related article

https://defence-industry.eu/bell-textron-establishes-ukraine-subsidiary-to-support-helicopter-cooperation/