Mil Mi-24
Family of assault and attack helicopters / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Mil Mi-24 (Russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers.[1] It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced by the Soviet Air Force in 1972. The helicopter is currently in use by 58 countries.
Mi-24 / Mi-25 / Mi-35 | |
---|---|
A Mi-24W of the Polish Land Forces | |
Role | Attack helicopter with transport capabilities, helicopter gunship |
National origin | Soviet Union/Russia |
Manufacturer | Mil |
First flight | 19 September 1969 |
Introduction | 1972 |
Status | In service |
Primary users | Russian Aerospace Forces 58 other users (see Operators section below) |
Produced | 1969–present[citation needed] |
Number built | 2,648 |
Developed from | Mil Mi-8 |
In NATO circles, the export versions, Mi-25 and Mi-35, are denoted with a letter suffix as "Hind D" and "Hind E". Soviet pilots called the Mi-24 the "flying tank" (Russian: летающий танк, romanized: letayushchiy tank), a term used historically with the famous World War II Soviet Il-2 Shturmovik armored ground attack aircraft. Other common unofficial nicknames were "Galina" (or "Galya"), "Crocodile" (Russian: Крокодил, romanized: Krokodil), due to the helicopter's camouflage scheme, and "Drinking Glass" (Russian: Стакан, romanized: Stakan), because of the flat glass plates that surround earlier Mi-24 variants' cockpits.[2]