MI-24 Hind Russian Helicopter

An attack & armoured personnal carrier helicopter

VARIANTS: ---  from Janes

Mi-24A (`Hind-A, B and C'): These early versions had a pilot and co-pilot/gunner in tandem under continuous glazing; large flight deck; about 250 were built, including Mi-24U unarmed dual-control trainers (first flight 1972);---- 1989-90 Jane's.

Mi-24D (Type 24-6; `Hind-D'): Interim gunship version; design in 1971; produced at the Arsenyev and Rostov plants 1973; about 350 built 1973-77. Basically a `Hind-A' with TV3-117 engines and port-side tail rotor, entire front fuselage redesigned above floor forward of engine air intakes; separate armored cockpits for weapon operator and pilot in tandem; flight mechanic optional, in main cabin; transport capability retained; USUP-24 gun system, with rangefinding; undernose JakB-12.7 four-barrel 12.7 mm machine gun in turret, slaved to adjacent KPS-53A electro-optical sighting pod, for air-to-air and air-to-surface use; Falanga P (Phalanx) anti-tank missile system; nosewheel leg extended to increase ground clearance of sensor pods; nosewheels semi-exposed when retracted. Mi-24DU dual-control training version has no gun turret. 

Mi-24V (Types 20-1and 24-2; `Hind-E'): As Mi-24D, with modified wingtip launchers and four underwing pylons; weapons include up to eight 9M114 (AT-6 `Spiral') radio guided tube-launched anti-tank missiles in pairs in Shturm V (Attack) missile system; ASP-17V enlarged undernose automatic missile guidance pod on port side, with fixed searchlight to rear; R-60 (K-60; AA-8 `Aphid') air-to-air missiles optional on underwing pylons; pilot's HUD replaces former reflector gunsight. Deliveries to Soviet Air Force began 29 March 1976; about 1,000 built at Arsenyev and Rostov 1976-86. (See also Mi-35.)

Mi-24VM: Proposed upgraded Mi-24V first shown in model form at Moscow Air Show '95. Mi-28 main and tail rotors and nose turret for twin 23 mm cannon; large IR suppressors scabbed to fuselage sides.

Mi-24VP: Variant of Mi-24V with twin-barrel 23 mm gun, with 450 rounds, in place of four-barrel 12.7 mm gun in nose; photographed 1992; small production from Rostov.

Mi-24P (Type 24-3; `Hind-F'): built 1974; about 620 built 1981-90;  P of designation refers to pushka = cannon; as Mi-24V, but nose gun turret replaced by GSh-30-2 twin-barrel 30 mm gun (with 750 rounds) in semi-cylindrical pack on starboard side of nose; bottom of nose smoothly faired above and forward of sensors.

Mi-24R (Type 46-2; `Hind-G1'): Identified at Chernobyl after April 1986 accident at nuclear power station; no undernose electro-optical and RF missile guidance pods; instead of wingtip weapon mounts, has `clutching hand' mechanisms on lengthened pylons, to obtain six soil samples per sortie, for NBC (nuclear/biological/chemical) warfare analysis; air samples sucked in via pipe on port side, aft of doors; datalink to pass findings to ground; lozenge shape housing with exhaust pipe of air filtering system under port side of cabin; bubble window on starboard side of main cabin; small rearward-firing marker flare pack on tailskid; crew of four wear NBC suits; deployed six per helicopter regiment throughout CIS ground forces. Designation (also appearing as Mi-24RCh) indicates Razvedchik: reconnaissance/chemical. About 150 built 1983-89.

Mi-24K (korrektirovchik: corrector) (`Hind-G2'): As Mi-24R, but with large camera in cabin, f8/1,300 mm lens on starboard side; six per helicopter regiment for reconnaissance and artillery fire correction; gun and B-8V-20 rocket pods retained. No target designator pod under nose; upward hinging cover for IR sensor. About 150 built 1983-1989.

Mi-24BMT: A few modified 1973 for minesweeping.

Mi-24PS: Special version for Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs; prototype displayed at Moscow Air Show '95. Equipment includes undernose FLIR ball; searchlight pod outboard of this on port side, loudspeaker pack on starboard side; hoist; climbdown ropes; stations for radio operators.

Mi-24 Ecological Survey Version: Modification by Polyot industrial research organisation, to assess oil pollution on water and seasonal changes of water level. First seen 1991 with large flat sensor `tongue' projecting from nose in place of gun turret; large rectangular sensor pod on outer starboard underwing pylon; unidentified modification replaces rear cabin window on starboard side.

Mi-25: Export Mi-24D, including those for Afghanistan, Cuba and India.

Mi-35: Export Mi-24V. Unarmed, dual control trainer version also produced for India.

Mi-35P: Export Mi-24P.

Mi-35M: Upgraded night-capable version of Mi-24/35 designed to meet the latest air mobility requirements of the Russian Army. Features include Mi-28 main and tail rotors and transmission; 1,636 kW (2,194 shp) Klimov TV3-117VMA engines; new avionics; a reduced empty weight resulting from new titanium main rotor head, composites rotor blades, shortened stub-wings and non-retractable landing gear; a 23 mm GSh-23-2 twin-barrel gun in nose turret, with 470 rounds; up to 16 radio-guided 9M114 (AT-6 `Spiral'), or laser-guided 9M-120 anti-tank, 9M-120F blast fragmentation or 9A-220 air-to-air versions of Ataka (AT-12) missile; or a range of armament options including GUV gun/grenade pods; UPK-23-250 gun pods; B-8V-20 and B-13L rocket pods; S-24B rockets; and KMGU pods of anti-armor and anti-personnel mines. Night Operation Capable Avionics System (NOCAS) by Sextant Avionique and Thomson-TTD Optronic integrates Chlio FLIR ball with a TMM-1410 display, providing night vision for target acquisition and identification, missile guidance and gun aiming. Other equipment includes a VH-100 HUD, NVGs, liquid-crystal MFD, Nadir 10 mission management and navigation system, laser-gyro INS and GPS. The FLIR ball is mounted outboard of the standard missile guidance pod. Ability to carry Igla V air-to-air missiles is optional. Non-flying demonstrator first displayed at 1995 Paris Air Show.

DESIGN FEATURES:

Typical helicopter gunship configuration, with stepped tandem seating for two crew and heavy weapon load on stub-wings; fuselage unusually wide for role, due to requirement for carrying eight troops; dynamic components and power plant originally as Mi-8, but soon upgraded to Mi-17-type power plant and port-side tail rotor. Main rotor blade section NACA 230, thickness/chord ratio 11 to 12 per cent; tail rotor blade section NACA 230M; stub-wing anhedral 12°, incidence 19°; wings contribute approximately 25 per cent of lift in cruising flight; fin offset 3°.

HELICOPTER FRAME:

Five-blade constant-chord main rotor; forged and machined steel head, with conventional flapping, drag and pitch change articulation; each blade has aluminum alloy spar, skin and honeycomb core; spars nitrogen pressurized for crack detection; hydraulic lead/lag dampers; balance tab on each blade; aluminum alloy three-blade tail rotor; main rotor brake; all-metal semi-monocoque fuselage pod and boom; 5 mm hardened steel integral side armor on front fuselage; all-metal shoulder wings with no movable surfaces; swept fin/tail rotor mounting; variable incidence horizontal stabilizer.

LANDING GEAR:

Tricycle type; rearward-retracting steerable twin-wheel nose unit; single-wheel main units with oleo-pneumatic shock-absorbers and low-pressure tires, size 720 x 320 mm on mainwheels, 480 x 200 mm on nosewheels. Main units retract rearward and inward into aft end of fuselage pod, turning through 90° to stow almost vertically, discwise to longitudinal axis of fuselage, under prominent blister fairings. Tubular tripod skid assembly, with shock-strut, protects tail rotor in tail-down take-off or landing.

POWER PLANT:

Two Klimov TV3-117MT turboshafts, each with T-O rating of 1,434 kW (1,923 shp), side by side above cabin, with output shafts driving rearward to main rotor shaft through combining gearbox. There is 5 mm hardened steel armor protection for engines. Main fuel tank in fuselage to rear of cabin, with bag tanks behind main gearbox. Internal fuel capacity 1,500 kg (3,307 lb); can be supplemented by 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) auxiliary tank in cabin (Mi-24D); provision for carrying (instead of auxiliary tank) up to four external tanks, each 500 liters (132 US gallons; 110 Imp gallons), on two inner pylons under each wing. Optional deflectors and separators for foreign objects and dust in air intakes; and infra-red suppression exhaust mixer boxes over exhaust ducts.

CREW:

Pilot (at the rear) and weapon operator on armored seats in tandem cockpits under individual canopies; dual flying controls, with retractable pedals in front cockpit; if required, flight mechanic on jump-seat in cabin, with narrow passage between flight deck and cabin. Front canopy hinged to open sideways to starboard; footstep under starboard side of fuselage for access to pilot's rearward-hinged door; rear seat raised to give pilot unobstructed forward view; anti-fragment shield between cockpits. Main cabin can accommodate eight persons on folding seats, or four stretchers; at front of cabin on each side is a door, divided horizontally into two sections hinged to open upward and downward respectively, with integral step on lower portion. Optically flat bulletproof glass windscreen, with wiper, for each crew member.

SYSTEMS:

Cockpits and cabin are heated and ventilated. Has a dual electrical system, with three generators, giving 36, 115 and 208 V AC at 400 Hz, and 27 V DC. Retractable landing/taxiing light under the nose; navigation lights; anti-collision light above tailboom. Stability augmentation system. Electrothermal de-icing system for main and tail rotor blades. AI-9 V APU mounted transversely inside fairing aft of rotor head for engine starting and ground services.