Mi-24 Hind

Overview:

The Mil Mi-24 (Cyrillic Миль Ми-24, NATO reporting name 'Hind') is a large helicopter gunship and low-capacity troop transport produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and operated from 1972 by the Soviet Air Force, its successors, and over thirty other nations. In October 2007, the Russian Air Force announced it would replace its 250 Mi-24 helicopter gunships with 300 more modern Mi-28s and possibly Ka-50s by 2015. In NATO circles the export versions, Mi-25 and Mi-35, are simply denoted with a letter suffix as "Hind D" and "Hind E" respectively. Soviet pilots called the aircraft летающий танк (letayushchiy tank, “flying tank”). More common unofficial nicknames were Крокодил (Krokodil, “Crocodile”), due to the helicopter's new camouflage scheme and Стакан (Stakan, “Glass”), because of the flat glass plates which surrounded the three place cockpit of the Mi-24. The core of the aircraft was derived from the Mil Mi-8 (NATO reporting name "Hip"), two top-mounted turboshaft engines driving a mid-mounted 17.3 m five-blade main rotor and a three-blade tail rotor. The engine configuration gave the aircraft its distinctive double air intake. Original versions have an angular greenhouse-style cockpit; Model D and later have a characteristic tandem cockpit with a "double bubble" canopy. Other airframe components came from the Mi-14 "Haze". Two mid-mounted stub wings provide weapon hardpoints, each offering three stations, in addition to providing lift. The load-out mix is mission dependent; Mi-24s can be tasked with close air support, anti-tank operations, or aerial combat. The body is heavily armored and the titanium rotor blades can resist impacts from .50 caliber (12.7 mm) rounds. The cockpit is overpressurized to protect the crew in NBC conditions. Considerable attention was given to making the Mi-24 fast. The airframe was streamlined, and fitted with retractable tricycle undercarriage landing gear to reduce drag. The wings provide considerable lift at high speed, up to a quarter of total lift. The main rotor was tilted 2.5° to the right from the fuselage to counteract dissymmetry of lift at high speed and provide a more stable firing platform. The landing gear was also tilted to the left so the rotor would still be level when the aircraft was on the ground, making the rest of the airframe tilt to the left. The tail was also asymmetrical to give a side force at speed, thus unloading the tail rotor. As a combination gunship and troop transport, the Mi-24 has no direct NATO counterpart. While some have compared the UH-1 ("Huey") as NATO's direct counterpart to the Mi-24, this is inaccurate. While UH-1s were used in Vietnam to ferry troops, and were used as gunships, they were not able to do both at the same time. Converting a UH-1 into a gunship meant stripping the entire passenger area to accommodate extra fuel and ammunition, making it useless for troop transport. The Mi-24 was designed to do both, and this was greatly exploited by airborne units of the Soviet Army during the 1980-1989 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The closest Western equivalent was the Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk, which used many of the same design principles and was also built as a high-speed, high-agility attack helicopter with limited troop transport capability; it, like the Mi-24, was also designed using many components from an already existing product, the Sikorsky S-61, itself a close approximation to the Mi-8/Mi-14. The S-67, however, was never adopted for service.

Specifications:

Role
Attack helicopter with transport capabilities.

First Flight
1969

Introduced
1972

Status
Active.

Primary Users
Russian Air Force.

Number Built
2000 (estimated).

Variants
Mil Mi-28

Crew
2-3 (pilot,weapons system officer and technician (optional)).

Capacity
8 troops or 4 stretchers.

Length
17.5 m (57 ft 4 in).

Height
6.5 m (21 ft 3 in).

Empty Weight
8,500 kg (18,740 lb).

Max Takeoff Weight
12,000 kg (26,500 lb).

Powerplant
2× Isotov TV3-117 turbines.
1,600 kW (2,200 hp) each.

Weapons
Internal Guns:

• flexible 12.7 mm Yakushev-Borzov Yak-B Gatling gun on most variants. Maximum of
• 1,470 rounds of ammunition.
• fixed twin-barrel GSh-30K on the Mi-24P. 750 rounds of ammunition.
• flexible twin-barrel GSh-23L on the Mi-24VP and Mi-24VM. 450 rounds of ammunition.
• PKT door mounted machine guns.

External Stores:

• Total payload is 1,500 kg of external stores.
• Inner hardpoints can carry at least 500 kg.
• Outer hardpoints can carry up to 250 kg.
• Wing-tip pylons can only carry the 9M17 Phalanga (in the Mi-24A-D) or the 9K114

Bomb-Load:

• Bombs within weight range (presumably ZAB, FAB, RBK, ODAB etc.) up to 500 kg.
• MBD multiple ejector racks (presumably MBD-4 with 4xFAB-100).
• KGMU2V submunition/mine dispenser pods.

First-Generation Armament (standard production Mi-24D):

• GUV-8700 gunpod (with a 12.7 mm Yak-B + 2x7.62 mm GShG-7.62 mm combination or one 30 mm AGS-17).
• UB-32 S-5 rocket launchers.
• S-24 240 mm rocket.
• 9M17 Phalanga (a pair on each wingtip pylon).

Second-Generation Armament (Mi-24V, Mi-24P and most upgraded Mi-24D):

• UPK-23-250 gunpod carrying the GSh-23L.
• B-8V20 a lightweight long tubed helicopter version of the S-8 rocket launcher.
• 9K114 Shturm in pairs on the outer and wingtip pylons.