Mil Mi-24
From Scramble - The Aviation Magazine
| Mi-24 | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Description | ||
| Role | Attack helicopter | |
| Crew | 2 | |
| First Flight | September 19, 1969 | |
| Entered Service | ? | |
| Number built | 5200 | |
| Manufacturer | Mil | |
| Dimensions | ||
| Length (ex rotor) | 17.51 m | 57ft 5in |
| Rotor diameter | 17.30 m | 56ft 9in |
| Height | 3.97 m | 13ft 0in |
| Rotor disc | 235.06 m² | 2530.2ft² |
| Weights | ||
| Empty | 8570 kg | 18894lb |
| Loaded | 11200 kg | 24690lb |
| Maximum takeoff weight | 12000 kg | 26455lb |
| Powerplant | ||
| Engines | two Klimov TV3-117MT turboshafts | |
| Power | 1434 kW (each) | 1923 shp (each) |
| Performance | ||
| Maximum speed | 320 km/h | 198 mph |
| Combat radius | 160 km | 99 miles |
| Service ceiling | 4500 m | 14750 ft |
| Rate of climb | 750 m/min | 2460 ft/min |
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ASCC/NATO reporting name
Hind
Basic operational task
Mil's feared “Devil's Chariot” is a combined armed assault/attack helicopter, although the latter is its primary role.
Program
Development began in the second half of the 1960s, as the first fire support helicopter in the former USSR, with accommodation for up to eight armed troops. A complete redesign was ordered after the construction of a 1966 Bell UH-1-sized mockup with skid-type landing gear and a side-by-side cockpit. Mil was issued with a directive to submit new plans in 1967, building three new mockups with five alternative forward fuselage arrangements. All featured a replacement for the fixed GSh-23 twin-barrelled cannon with a faster-firing machine gun in a powered turret, and provisions for the 9M114 Shturm V (AT-6 "Spiral") ATMs. It was the 10.5 tonne aircraft, with two JV3-117A engines, chosen over the lighter single-engined alternative. This aircraft (Izdelie 240) was based on the Mi-14 dynamic system, with a streamlined new fuselage.
Prototypes
The two V-24 prototypes were built by MVZ 329 (the Mil workshops) at Panki and it’s first flight was 19 September 1969. 10 preseries Mi-24s followed, five built by MVZ 329 and five by Progress (MVZ 116) at Arsenyev. The State acceptance trials were performed June 1970 to December 1971. All the prototypes were fitted with TV3-117A engines, not TV2-117 as sometimes reported. First reported in the Western press and production started 1972. Photographs became available in 1974, when two units of approximately squadron strength were based in East Germany. The reconfiguration of the front fuselage changed the primary role to gunship, this new version was first observed in 1977. Used operationally in Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, Chechnya, Iran/Iraq war (when at least one Iranian F-4 Phantom II was destroyed by a 9M114 (AT-6 “Spiral”) anti-tank missile from a Mi-24), Nicaragua and Sri Lanka. The peak production rate at the Progress plant, Arsenyev, was 165 a year but the production line there was dismantled in 1989. Late models continue to be available from Rostvertol at Rostov-on-Don, where production continues at a low rate for export and for the Interior Ministry.
Versions
Mi-24 Hind-B
(Izdelie 240) Prototypes and pre-series aircraft with simple tapered wing with no anhedral and simple underslung BD3-57Kr-V racks. Pilot (offset to port) and WSO (forward) in tandem under a heavily glazed cockpit. One was modified in 1975 as “A-10” for successful speed record attempts with wings removed and faired over and with inertia-type dampers on the main rotor head. TV3-117A engines. One was later used to test the Fenestron tail rotor.
Mi-24A Hind-A
(Izdelie 245) The initial production version with a similar heavily glazed angular cockpit to prototypes and preseries aircraft, but with an extended forward fuselage, giving it a more pointed nose in plan view and with less steeply pitched “roof” glazing. Single-barrel Afanasyev A-12.7 (TKB-481) 12.7 mm machine gun in a NUV-1 flexible mounting in the tip of nose, on the underside. Aimed using a simple PKV collimator gunsight. The pilot's door (on port side) was replaced by a large sliding bubble window. The WSO still entered through an upward-opening side window. The fuselage was stretched to accommodate the Raduga-F (Rainbow-F) semi-automatic command to line-of-sight missile guidance system, the presence of which was indicated by a small teardrop fairing in front of the nose landing gear. Armed with manually guided 9M17M (AT-2 “Swatter”) ATGMs. Anhedral added to stub wings to improve lateral stability and cure high-speed Dutch roll. The ATM launch rails were relocated from the fuselage sides to new endplate pylons at the wingtips. Two Mi-24A prototypes were produced by grafting a new nose on to pre-series Mi-24s. It entered production at Arsenyev in 1970. Circa 170 built.
Mi-24U Hind-C
(Izdelie 244) Unarmed pilot conversion trainer based on the Mi-24A, but lacking the nose-mounted gun, wingtip missile launch rails and undernose Raduga antenna. The instructor was seated in the former WSO position, with full dual controls and instruments. Circa 25 built at Arsenyev or produced by conversion of redundant Mi-24/Mi-24As between 1972 and 1974.
Mi-24F Hind-A
(Izdelie 245M) An inadequate tail rotor authority led to the replacement of the starboard pusher tail rotor by a tractor tail rotor on port side from 1974. Seven reinforcing ribs were added to the port fuselage aft of the wing, the SRO-2M Khrom ("Odd Rods") IFF antenna was relocated from the canopy to the oil cooler. The APU exhaust was extended and angled downwards. The total production of Mi-24, Mi-24A, Mi-24U and Mi-24F was about 240, ending in 1975.
Mi-24B Hind-A
(Izdelie 241) An up-gunned and improved model with the new 12.7 mm Yakoushev/Borzov YakB (TKB-063 or 9A624) 12.7 mm four-barrel machine gun in an USPU-24 powered chin turret, traversable through 120 degrees in azimuth and from +20 to –40 degrees in elevation/depression, and slaved to the KPS-53AV sighting system. Manually controlled ATGMs were replaced by 9M17P Falanga-P and Falanga-PV with SACLOS guidance. The traversing radio command link antenna moved from centreline to below the port side of the nose, with a gyrostabilised collimated LLTV/FLIR under the starboard side in a fixed fairing. The aircraft passed company trials in 1971-72 but it was overtaken by Izdelie 246 ("Hind-D") and abandoned after some 10 were upgraded from Mi-24As. A full-scale mockup was produced from a pre-series Mi-24 with an undrooped wing, the prototype from an early Mi-24A with the normal anhedral wing. It retained it’s fully retractable landing gear like all previous Mi-24 variants.
Mi-24D Hind-D
(Izdelie 246) Interim gunship version combining the “old” weapon system of the Mi-24B with a new airframe designed for the planned Mi-24V (due to delays with that aircraft's Shturm-V ATGMs with SPS-24V fire-control system, consisting of KPS-53AV weapons control unit and KS-53 gunsight). The design began in 1971 and two prototypes were built by converting Mi-24A aircraft, still with the starboard-side tail rotor. It entered production at the Arsenyev and Rostov plants in 1975, with about 625 built between 1975-1985. Basically the same as the late model “Hind-A” with TV3-117 engines and a port-side tail rotor, but the entire front fuselage had been redesigned above the floor forward of the engine air intakes. Separate armoured cockpits for the weapon operator and pilot in tandem, and a flight mechanic was optional, in the main cabin. Transport capability was retained. USPU-24 gun system, with range-finding. An undernose YakB-12.7 four-barrel 12.7 mm machine gun in a turret, slaved to the adjacent KPS-53A electro-optical sighting pod, for air-to-air and air-to-surface use. Long air data boom with DUAS-V pitch and yaw vanes. Falanga P anti-tank missile system. The nosewheel leg extended to increase ground clearance of the sensor pods. The wing pylons were plumbed for 500 litre (132 US gallon or 110 Imp gallon) drop tanks. The nosewheels are semi-exposed when retracted. S-13 camera moved from the port wingroot to the port wingtip/endplate junction. (See also Mi-25.)
Mi-24D+ Hind-D
Subversion of the Mi-24D with the TV3-117V engines and L-006 radar warning sensors of the Mi-24V. Only a small number was produced before 1985.
Mi-24D?
Modified Mi-24D '98+31' (ex-NVA '495' sold to Poland as '167' in January 1996) used by WTD 61 in Manching during 1994 for tests with the head of a Hawk missile in place of undernose gun. Unknown modification replaces rear cabin window on the starboard side with a pipe projecting from it.
Mi-24DU
(Izdelie 249) The dual-control training version of the Mi-24D. It has no gun turret but retained the ATGMs. Late Mi-24DUs had the TV3-117V engines like the Mi-24V. Circa 105 were built between 1977 and 1991.
Mi-24PTRK
This Mi-24D modification was a testbed for the Shturm V missile system of Mi-24V.
Mi-24V Hind-E
(Izdelie 242) Up-engined, improved version powered by TV3-117V engines (V = vysotnii `high-altitude') rated at 1,633 kW (2,190 eshp). Airframe as Mi-24D, but with modified wingtip launchers and four underwing pylons. Empty weight 8,620 kg (19,004 lb). Weapons include up to eight 9M114 (AT-6 “Spiral”) radio-guided tube-launched anti-tank missiles in pairs in the Shturm V (Attack) missile system. A fixed enlarged undernose automatic missile guidance pod on the port side (antenna inside was articulated), with a fixed searchlight to the rear. ASP-17V gunsight for pilot. R-60 (K-60 AA-8 “Aphid”) air-to-air missiles optional on underwing pylons. The pilot's HUD replaces the former reflector gunsight. Deliveries to the Soviet Air Force began 29 March 1976. Over 1,600 built at Arsenyev and Rostov from 1976. From 1981 usually fitted with PZU filters over the engine intakes, and, from 1984, with provisions for triple-lobe IR filter boxes over the downward-pointing exhausts and an L-166V-11E Ispanka (Spaniard) or SOEP-V1A "Lipa" IR jammer on a “Wendy House” fairing. R-863 VHF, R-828 army radio, SRO-2M IFF was replaced by SRO-1P Parol L-006LM Beryoza RHAWS on late aircraft. (See also Mi-35.)
Mi-24T
Some Mi-24Ds -without guidance pods under the nose and ATGM adapters- used by the Soviet demonstration team Berkooty were referred to as Mi-24T in the Soviet press.
Mi-24W
Polish designation of the Mi-24V (Ми-24В) as the Polish alphabet does not know the western letter V (and the Polish W is pronounced like an English V).
Mi-24VD
The D in the designation stands for Dorabotanni meaning “Terminator”. A high proportion of combat losses in Afghanistan were inflicted from the rear hemisphere. The Mi-24VD was produced in 1985 as a testbed for rearward-firing defensive armament. A bulged gondola was installed in place of the rear avionics bay, accessed via a narrow crawlway. Equipped with 12.7 mm NSVT-12.7 Utyos machine gun. The gunner entered the turret in flight with his legs dangling into the slipstream, encased in a built-in rubberised fabric “trouser” bag. This project was abandoned in 1986.
Mi-24VP
(Izdelie 258) The final basic Army Aviation production version, based on the Mi-24V with a twin-barrel GSh-23L 23 mm gun in a NPPU-24 flexible mount with 450 rounds, in place of the four-barrel 12.7 mm gun in the nose. A small production series of 25 built at Rostov in 1989 and 1990, entering service in 1989. The production was curtailed by ammunition feed problems. One VP flew with the Mi-28-type Delta H tail rotor.
Mi-24VU Hind-E
No dedicated trainer version of the Mi-24V was produced by the OKB or factories for the Russian or former Soviet Army. India uses a small number of these trainer versions (possibly locally converted) with the gun turret removed and faired over, and with dual controls and instruments for the instructor in the front cockpit. Mi-24VU, Mi-25VU and Mi-35U designations may be unofficial, even in India.
Mi-24P Hind-F
(Izdelie 243) The development was started in 1974, with about 635 built between 1981-1996, first shown in service in 1982 photographs. The P of the designation refers to pushka: cannon. As the Mi-24V, but the nose gun turret replaced by a GSh-30K twin-barrel 30 mm gun (with 750 rounds) in a semi-cylindrical pack on the starboard side of the nose. The bottom of the nose smoothly faired above and forward of the sensors. The alternative Mi-24G has a gun on the starboard side. (See also Mi-35P.)
Mi-24RKhR Hind-G1
(Izdelie 2462) Also referred to as Mi-24R. A dedicated NBC reconnaissance aircraft to replace the Mi-8VD. RKhR = dlya Radiatseeonno-Khimeccheskoi Razvedki (NBC reconnaissance). Identified at Chernobyl after the April 1986 accident at the nuclear power station. No undernose electro-optical and RF missile guidance pods, strike camera deleted, but the pylons for underwing stores were retained: instead of the wingtip weapon mounts, it has “clutching hand” excavator mechanisms on lengthened pylons, to obtain six soil samples per sortie, for NBC (nuclear/biological/chemical) warfare analysis. Air samples sucked in via a pipe on the port side, forward of the doors exhausting through a horizontal slit above. Datalink to pass the findings to groundstations. Lozenge-shape housing with an exhaust pipe of the air filtering system under the port side of the cabin. A bubble window on the starboard side of the main cabin. A small rearward-firing marker flag/flare pack on the tailskid. The crew of four wear NBC suits. It was deployed six per helicopter regiment throughout the Russian Federation and Associated States (CIS) ground forces. There were about 152 built between 1983-89.
Mi-24RA Hind-G1 Mod
(Izdelie 2462 or 2463) A new series of conversions from the Mi-24V. It retained it’s strike camera in the wingroot and lacked the wingtip excavators, Sometimes seen with a pod on the port station. The crew reduced to three with improved (presumably automated) processing and data transfer. It probably had a slightly different and more specialised role: There was only one known in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, for example.
Mi-24K Hind-G2
(Izdelie 201) The K in the designation stands for korrektirovchik: corrector. A dedicated artillery spotter/fire correction aircraft to replace the Mi-8TARK. As the Mi-24R, but with a large A87P or AFA-100 camera in the cabin, with a f8/1,300 mm lens on starboard side. Six per helicopter regiment for reconnaissance and artillery fire correction. The gun and B-8V-20 rocket pods were retained. No target designator pod under nose. An upward-hinging cover for the IRIS wide-angle IR and optical sensor system. Rita reconnaissance and spotting system with optical target identification, computer and data processor. There were about 163 built between 1983-1989.
Mi-24BMT
(Izdelie 248) A few modified in 1973 for minesweeping.
Mi-24VN Hind-E
(Mi-35O "Hind-E") An interim night-attack version based on a conversion of the Mi-24V in Mi-24VM Stage 1 configuration. Cockpit and external lights compatible with Geo-ONV-1 NVGs and with the new RPKB navigation/fire-control system. May also feature GOES-320 gyrostabilised sensor turret containing Sony EVI331 TV and Agema THV1000 FLIR sensors (for navigation/surveillance, not targeting) or a similar GOES-342 turret with a targeting function for the 9M120 (AT-12) ATMs. Some reports suggest that Mi-24VNs were to be used by Experimental Combat Group in Chechnya. A similar upgrade configuration, with A737 GPS and using two MFI-68 cockpit displays for the pilot (one replacing the S-17V gunsight, one functioning as a colour LCD terrain map), and an MFPU console for the gunner, has been prepared for an unnamed customer. Performance generally as for Mi-24V/Mi-24P.
Mi-24PN
Preliminary tests reportedly under way in mid-2000. Presumed to be a 30 mm cannon-armed "Hind-F" upgraded with Geofizika FLIR, new laser range-finder, mission computer and NVG-compatible cockpit. Possibly equivalent to Mi-24VN.
Mi-24PS
Patrul'nospasatelny: patrol/rescue. A transport/law enforcement/SAR variant for the Russian Ministry of the Interior. Production or series conversion status unknown. The first prototype was converted from a Mi-24P, retaining it’s 30 mm cannon and wing endplate pylons. The undernose LLTV/FLIR was replaced by a downward-pointing loudspeaker group and the ATGM guidance antenna by a FPP-7 searchlight. The nose was cut away to allow the installation of a weather radar and EO turret. LPG-4 winch (120 kg or 264 lb capacity) installed aft of the starboard cabin door, grab rails, foot rests and rappel attachment points around the sides of the doors. Four of a six-man squad carried can rappel from the aircraft simultaneously. Satellite communications, secure encrypted voice radios and special police-band radios. Second prototype similar (albeit painted white, with blue cheatlines and Militia titles) but that was converted from a Mi-24V, with the USPU-24 turret replaced by a FLIR ball. Marketed as Mi-35PS for export.
Mi-24 Ecological Survey Version
Modification by the Polyot industrial research organisation, to assess oil pollution on water and seasonal changes of water level. It was first seen in 1991 with a large flat sensor “tongue” projecting from the nose in place of the gun turret, a large rectangular sensor pod on the outer starboard underwing pylon and an unidentified modification replaces the rear cabin window on the starboard side.
Mi-25
Export Mi-24D, including those for Afghanistan, Angola, Cuba, India and Peru. Also Mi-35D.
Mi-35
Export Mi-24V also known as Mi-25V.
Mi-35P
Export Mi-24P.
Mi-35M
Upgraded night-capable version of the Mi-24/35. It is the export counterpart of the Mi-24M. It was 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 a 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 a 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-20A and B-13L rocket pods, S-24B rockets and KMGU pods of anti-armour and anti-personnel mines. The Night Operation Capable Avionics System (NOCAS) by Sextant Avionique and Thomson-TTD Optronic integrates a 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. The non-flying demonstrator was first displayed at the 1995 Paris Air Show.
Mi-35M2
The Venezuelan Army ordered and received this version mid 2006. No details known yet, but it is expected to be a minor update to the Mi-35M.
Operators
About 700 in Russian Army service, most with helicopter attack regiments of Mi-8/17s and Mi-24s. Export customers include:
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Several Mi-24s were acquired for Papua New Guinea, but none entered service.
Massoud guerilla forces (The Northern Alliance) in Afghanistan had six operating from Kulob in Tajikistan in 1997.
Technical information
Power Plant
Two Klimov TV3-117MT turboshafts, each with T-O rating of 1,434 kW (1,923 shp), side by side above the cabin, with the output shafts driving rearward to the main rotor shaft through a combining gearbox. There is 5 mm hardened steel armour protection for the engines. Optional deflectors and separators for foreign objects and dust in the air intakes and IR suppression exhaust mixer boxes over the exhaust ducts.
Fuel
The main fuel tank is located in the fuselage to the rear of the cabin, with two bag tanks behind the main gearbox and two under the floor. Internal fuel capacity is 2,130 litres (563 US gallons or 469 Imp gallons), of which 2,050 litres (542 US gallons or 451 Imp gallons) are usable. This can be supplemented by two 850 litre (225 US gallon or 187 Imp gallon) auxiliary tanks in the cabin (Mi-24D). Provisions for carrying (instead of the auxiliary tank) up to four external tanks, each 500 litres (132 US gallons or 110 Imp gallons), on the two inner pylons under each wing.
Crew
The pilot (in the rear seat) and the weapon operator are seated on armoured seats in tandem cockpits under individual canopies. Dual flying controls, with retractable pedals in the front cockpit. If required, a flight mechanic on a jump-seat in the cabin, with a narrow passage between the flight deck and the cabin. The front canopy is hinged to open sideways to starboard A footstep under the starboard side of the fuselage for access to the pilot's rearward-hinged door. The rear seat is raised to give the pilot an unobstructed forward view. There is an anti-fragment shield between the cockpits. The main cabin can accommodate eight persons on folding seats, or two stretchers, two seated casualties and a medical attendant. These seats are often not fitted, allowing for larger number to be carried. At the front of the cabin on each side is a door, divided horizontally into two sections hinged to open upward and downward respectively, with an integral step on the lower portion. Optically flat bulletproof glass windscreen, with a wiper, for each crew member. Cockpits and cabin heated and ventilated.
Armament
One remotely controlled YakB-12.7 four-barrel Gatling-type 12.7 mm machine gun, with 1,470 rounds, in a VSPU-24 undernose turret with a field of fire 60 degrees to each side, 20degress up, 60 degrees down. The gun is slaved to the KPS-53AV undernose sighting system with a reflector sight in the front cockpit. Four 9M17P Skorpion (AT-2 “Swatter”) anti-tank missiles on 2P32M twin rails under the endplate pylons at the wingtips, four underwing pylons for UB-32 rocket pods (each 32 S-5 type 57 mm rockets), B-8V-20 pods each containing twenty 80 mm S-8 rockets, B-13L pods each containing five 130 mm S-13 rockets, 240 mm S-24B rockets, UPK-23-250 pods each containing a GSh-23L twin-barrel 23 mm gun, GUV pods each containing either one four-barrel 12.7 mm YakB-12.7 machine gun with 750 rounds and two four-barrel 7.62 mm 9-A-622 machine guns with total 1,100 rounds or an AGS-17 Plamia 30 mm grenade launcher with 300 grenades, up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) of conventional bombs, mine dispensers, night flares or other stores. R-60 (AA-8 “Aphid”), R-73 (AA-11 “Archer”) and Igla AAMs fitted experimentally. The helicopter can be landed to install reload weapons carried in the cabin. PKV reflector gunsight for the pilot. Provisions for firing AKMS guns from the cabin windows and a PK or PKT machine gun from door mounts.
Images
Mi24P Russian Army |
 Mi24D, Czech Air Force |
 Mi24RKhR Russian Air Force |
 Mi-24V Hind-E Czech Air Force |
