Helicopter tail drive shaft is susceptible to ballistic damage in military applications， significantly compromising the safety of helicopter flight. Consequently， extensive research on ballistic damage and anti-ballistic design of helicopter tail drive shaft has been conducted both domestically and internationally. Firstly， the military significance of researching the ballistic damage and anti-ballistic design of helicopter tail drive shaft is elaborated. Secondly， the current research status and development trends of ballistic damage and anti-ballistic design of helicopter tail drive shaft at home and abroad are detailed from four aspects： evaluation criteria， research methods， influencing factors， and methods for improving anti-ballistic performance of the tail drive shaft. Finally，the shortcomings of domestic research in this area are discussed， and the research directions that urgently need to be carried out in the future are prospected from the views of material property testing， new numerical simulation methods， research on damage by fragment penetration and numerical simulation of ballistic damage of composite tail drive shaft.