Mil Mi-24 (Hind)

Mil Mi-24 (Hind) History

The famous Mil Mi-24 "Hind" helicopter originated from the Soviet demand for a heavily armed and armored Cold War transport helicopter modeled on the equally famous American model Bell UH-1 "Huey". The activities of the United States in the Vietnam War, given their use of helicopters, directly influenced the form and function of the Soviet design, developing one of the most iconic aircraft of the time. This guy saw combat action in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and still plays a more attack-oriented role today despite his Cold War childhood.

Hind remains an intimidating, flexible, and proven battlefield tool. Its advantages are reflected in the more powerful Mil Mi-28 Havoc currently delivered to the Russian army.

While the Mi-28 is a more specialized anti-tank platform designed to counter enemy armor with an emphasis on crew and system survivability, the Mi-24 - whose days seem to be numbered - is still in Used on the battlefield today.

Origin and development

Following the end of the Korean War hostilities, attention turned to the evolution of the nature of the battlefield associated with helicopters. The Korean War saw the first large-scale use of helicopters in various roles, and the Soviet Army lacked any viable vehicle type.

A war across Europeif the Cold War heats upwill require the coordination of thousands of troops and air and ground support to wage an effective war on multiple fronts. While armored vehicle carriers certainly have a place in Soviet doctrine, consider elevating mechanized warfare to a new category by providing a heavily armed attack helicopter capable of transporting combat-ready personnel to critical situations.

Various designs were proposed by Soviet military companies at the forefront of the initiative. American involvement in the Vietnam War brought new viable gunship concepts, as both transport and firing platforms and Soviet authorities believed in similar designs. The Soviets initially began arming their Mil Mi-4 Hound helicopters for this role, but this was only an intermediate attempt. Mil - starring founder Mikhail Mil himself - was eventually selected for the project, laying the groundwork for a rival Soviet gunship.

On May 6, 1968, the Soviet Union officially requested a fully armed and armored twin-engine helicopter with high performance and survivability. The official Mil design, known as the Mi-24, was approved in February 1969.

The development of the new helicopter is basically based on the advantages of Mil's predecessor - the Mi-8 "Hip". These include the engine layout, as well as a slightly modified main rotor mounted in the two-person cockpit forward of the passenger cabin.

The design approach to the hull is completely new and allows for a much smaller frontal target to be presented to the enemy. The cockpit design envisions the pilot and co-pilot sitting one behind the other under a thick, boxy-looking glass cockpit.

The first flight of the prototype took place on September 19, 1969, a few days after the tethered prototype took off. These prototypes were eventually paired with 10 development vehicles, which were finally evaluated in early June 1970. This resulted in several design changes to the original arrangement (including reversing the direction of the tail rotor and adding a Hind-style gunned wing). ). The model was eventually approved for serial production and officially entered into Soviet service in 1972beginning to become the most memorable and recognizable legacy of the Soviet Cold War military machine, as well as a large stockpile of Warsaw Pact countries.

Its initial introduction and eventual global impact became a serious concern for NATO war planners throughout the Cold War.

After some operational practice, the cockpit was redesigned into the more familiar Hind form, including two separate stepped cockpits for improved visibility and increased protection against ground fire. Additionally, passenger transport quality decreased as attack roles increased and ammunition selection was prioritized over deploying troops on the battlefield. The cabin was later used to carry AT-2 series "Swatter" anti-tank missiles for resupply.

These changes -- which spawned the famous "Hind-D" series -- helped the Hind improve performance specifications while reducing combat vulnerability -- especially at the inconsistent low altitudes where it was intended to operate.

Go back

Based on the most widely used and accepted form of the Hind helicopter, the design features a layered two-person cockpit with the pilot at the rear and the gunner at the front. Each location is armored and covered with heavy framed bubble glass panels, and most importantly utilizes wiper blades to fight the elements. The glass plate is bulletproof against small arms fire. The pilot's cockpit door was set to open to starboard, while the gunner's door was set to open to port.

The engines are stacked above and behind the cockpit along the rather slender fuselage. The main rotor mast is mounted low and drives a large five-blade main rotor system. The hull is slender and rounded on all sides. At the heart of the fuselage layout is an oft-forgotten cabin that features numerous viewing ports.

The empennage is mounted by a high-mounted fin that provides the shaft that powers the large three-blade tail rotor mounted on the port side of the aircraft. The horizontal plane is attached to the back of the tail unit. The landing gear is retractable and consists of a two-wheel nose landing gear leg and a pair of single-wheel main legs, arranged in three-point arrangement along the underside of the fuselage.

Weapons are spread over three large underwing hardpoints. Each wing is mounted above and aft of the passenger area and mates with three hardpoint pylons, two on the inside and one on the wingtip. Additional weapons are mounted in the starboard side of the hull or in the gun mounts under the forward hull on some models.

Additional optics and special equipment can also be attached to the front body.

Rear Power

Power for the Mi-24 is provided by a pair of 2 Isotov TV3-117 series turbine engines, each delivering up to 2,200 hp. That gives the sturdy mount a top speed of 208 mph and a range of nearly 280 miles. The aircraft is listed with a maximum service ceiling of 14,750 feet, in line with other helicopters in its class.

Considering the Mi-24's 18,740 lb (unladen) weight, the Mi-24 at 26,500 lbs is a less agile beast and loses some of its combat power when used as a dedicated attack helicopter.

After Ordnance

Armament is the heart and soul of the Mi-24 series. During its evolution, the family has been equipped with a range of internal weapons. These include the four-barreled 12.7mm Yakushev Borzov Yak-B Gatling cannon, improved by the installation of a twin-barreled 30mm GSh-30K cannon. The 23mm GSh-23L gun was also mounted in a powered turret for greater flexibility should combat missions require this development. In addition, suppressive fire can take the form of general-purpose machine guns mounted on cabin windows (in an armed assault role).

Carrying external ordnance remains the Hind family's forte. This includes the installation of integrated cannon or machine gun pods, anti-tank missiles and rocket pods. Additionally, Hind can strategically bomb enemy positions using conventionally dropped bombs.

Return to action

The Hind family of helicopters experienced a baptism of fire during the 1977 Ogaden War (1977-1978), which pitted Ethiopian elements against the Somali army, although the Soviet Union first used the machine in 1979-1989 The Hinds were used with low-flying Sukhoi Su-25 "Frogfoot" attack aircraft during the Soviet-Afghan War. The helicopter's mission is to disperse and dismantle insurgents throughout the harsh regions of Afghanistan, while also being used for convoy transport and fire support missions when needed. The Mi-24 was specifically designed for such conflicts, regularly engaging guerrilla enemies using cannons, machine guns, missiles and conventionally dropped bombs. While their heavy weapons and armor systems proved their upcoming low-flying role, the machines also proved vulnerable to low-altitude air defensesespecially the American-made, CIA-supplied short-range FIM-92 Stinger , a surface-to-air missile.

Despite the heavy casualties, Afghan insurgents feared and respected the Mi-24's prowess, giving the helicopter the rather creepy nickname "Satanic Chariot." In 1989, despite the Soviet Union's enormous contribution to the war, the Empire reduced casualties. The last loss of life in the war occurred when a Mi-24 was shot down by Afghan rebels, and its crew was killed in the crash.

The next major display of the Mi-24 was the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988. These forms were export variants of the Mi-25, which fought for the Iraqi army. The nearly decade-long conflict has killed many people on both sides, but neither side has made any progress. While the Hinds played an important role, their weapons lacked the latest technology available, and they were also vulnerable to ground fire.

One notorious role of the Mi-25 in the war was the highly publicized chemical attack on unarmed Kurdish civilians in northern Iraq. The conflict between the two Arab nations also saw the Mi-24 attack enemy aircraft, including the record downing of the American-made Bell AH-1 Cobra and the Iranian-operated McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. In 1990, Iraqi Mi-25s were again used in Iraq's invasion of neighboring Kuwait, triggering the 1991 Gulf War, which resulted in Iraq's military defeat. By the 1990s, Hind had risen to prominence in the Croatian War of Independence, the Chechen War and other global conflicts.

They also saw action in the Kosovo war in the second half of the century.

On a more modern scale, the Mi-24 continued its heavy use of force in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq following the events of September 11, 2003. Polish Mi-24 artillery wagons were used in support of the coalition and even 6 of their own Hinds were provided to the Afghan military. During the 2008 South Ossetia war, both the Russians and the Georgians deployed their own Mi-24 systemsthe Russians inevitably had the upper hand in a unilateral conflict.

During the 2011 Libyan Arab uprising, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi used his powerful reserves to fight insurgents. Several people are known to have been killed in the ensuing battle.

After the famous operator and production

The Mi-24 family in various forms has been in extensive service beyond Russian borders. Major operators include (or were) Afghanistan, Hungary, Libya, Mongolia and Venezuela. Russia remains the largest operator of such helicopters to date, with about 360 helicopters currently in service with the Air Force, Navy and Army. The United States retains some Mi-24s for enemy-only training. Many exported versions may still be valid, abused, or corrupted by countless conflicts.

Of the approximately 2,000 Mi-24 helicopters produced by Mil, approximately 600 were delivered to export customers.

rear variant

There are a number of notable variants of the Mi-24, although readers should be aware of the rather unconventional approach used in Soviet/Russian naming practices due to translation reasons. In the West, names are usually given in numerical or alphabetical order that is easier to understand - this differs in the Soviet/Russian approach.

In the most basic approach, Hind family lineages can be divided into four main groups - archetypal forms and "Hind-B", "Hind-A", "Hind-C", "Hind-D". and the "Hind-F" model. The Hind-B lacks any nose armament and has a rear-swept R-860 UHF mast. The necessary short wings were not given the characteristic dihedral rake common to most rear wings, and the tail rotor system faced the starboard side of the aircraft. The Hind-A was fitted with a nose-mounted 12.7mm heavy machine gun, the camera gun was located in the port wing root fairing, and the tail rotor was located on the port side of the aircraft. The Hind-C lost the nose gun, but introduced a chaff/torch distributor in a "lace" attachment at the rear of the tail boom.

The Hind-D produced additional dorsal antenna work, a quad-barreled powered chin turret (heavy 12.7mm machine gun) and a U-shaped antenna for the R-828 Eucalyptus UHF system. It remains the most well-known and authoritative version of the attack in the Hind family.

The Hind-F is an ingenious artillery platform that produces a starboard mounted twin-barreled 30mm fixed cannon.