Mil Mi-24 (NO.6)
The Mil Mi-24 (Cyrillic ???? ??-24, NATO reporting name ‘Hind’) is a large helicopter gunship and low-capacity troop transport produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plantand 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???????? ???? (letayushchiy tank, “flying tank”). More common unofficial nicknames were ???????? (Krokodil, “Crocodile”), due to the helicopter’s new camouflage scheme and ?????? (Stakan, “Glass”), because of the flat glass plates which surrounded the three place cockpit of the Mi-24A.
- General characteristics
- Crew: 2-3: pilot, weapons system officer and technician (optional)
- Capacity: 8 troops or 4 stretchers
- Length: 17.5 m (57 ft 4 in)
- Rotor diameter: 17.3 m (56 ft 7 in)
- Wingspan: 6.5 m (21 ft 3 in)
- Height: 6.5 m (21 ft 3 in)
- Disc area: 235 m² (2,530 ft²)
- 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
Performance
- Maximum speed: 335 km/h (208 mph)
- Range: 450 km (280 miles)
- Service ceiling: 4,500 m (14,750 ft)
- Armament
- 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 passenger compartment window 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 Shturmcomplex (in the Mi-24V-F).
- 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 + 2×7.62 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
