Mi-24 Hind

Hind. That one word would have to instill a sense of fear into even the most battle hardened foot soldier. The Russian Mi-24 Hind has, for over 20 years been the world’s most feared and respected gunship. The Hind has almost become as well as known as just the term MiG. And, if you look at it, you can understand why it is a fearsome weapons. Bristling with rocket pods and anti-tank missiles as well as either a four-barreled rapid fire machine gun or a twin-barreled hard-hitting 30-mm cannon, the Hind is a force to be reckoned with. I thought I would try to see if we could get a good discussion going on about the history, the present, and the future status of this formidable attack helicopter. As most of you know, it began life when Russia decided to try and make a compromise between the assault capability of the Mi-8 Hip-C and the all-out attack capability of the Mi-8 Hip-E. The result was Mil’s most well-known product. The original Hind-A was equipped with a 12.7-mm gun in the nost in a turret. (No, I am not referring to the YakB gun in the Hind-D). It had six underwing hardpoints for a typcial warload consisting of either four UB-16 or UB-32 rocket pods, plus four AT-2 Swatter anti-tank missiles. Eight fully-equipped troops were supposed to be carried in the cabin, and the helicopter’s role was supposed to be to get the troops in all the while laying down suppressive fire for protection during the insertion of troops. The Hind-B was a pre-prouction model that was discovered by NATO after the Hind-A. The Hind-B actually precedes the Hind-A. It has no anhedral to its wing and the tail rotor is to starboard as opposed to port Actually, the very first Hind-A’s had the starboard tail rotor, but this was later moved to port in later Hind-A’s as well as in all other variants. The Hind-C was the trainer model of the Hind-A. It had no gun and could only carry rockets or other such unguided weapons. The Hind-D introduced what is now regarded as a “typical gunship layout” with a two-man crew (as opposed to the four-man crew of the Hind-A/B/C). The pilot sits in the rear seat and the gunner sits down below the pilot in the front seat. The Hind-D also had increased weapons options. A YakB 12.7-mm four-barreled machine gun was fitted on a turret under the nose. It could traverse through 120 degrees in azimuth and +20/-60 degrees in elevation. The AT-2 Swatter was the principal weapon, four of which were usually carried, along with 57-mm rocket pods of either UB-16 or UB-32 types. The Mi-24D Hind-D, although still built with a cabin, was really designed more as a gunship. The most likely use for the cabin in any of the later model Hinds would be for a realoading crew, which could reload weapons such as anti-tank missiles, which would be carried in the cabin. Presumably, the pilot would find a good spot to land, that is somewhat hidden, and then the reload team would jump out and rearm the helo. The Mi-24W Hind-E introduces more modern electronics as well as the capabiltiy to fire the AT-6 Spiral (Shturm) anti-tank missile. Up to twelve can be carried. The AT-6 is a great improvement over the AT-2. It has a longer range and is smaller, so more can be carried. The final production model, the Mi-24P Hind-F introduces even newer more modern electronics. It also has the YakB gun replaced with a two-barrel 30-mm GSh-30-2 cannon. This gun comes with 750 rounds and is fitted on the starboard side of the forward fuselage. It is fixed to fire forward. Well, that is my synopsis of the Hind family. Please add your commentary as well as interesting facts.