“The Hind was a formidable symbol of Soviet military power, appearing in several hot spots around the globe during the 1970s and 80s.”

(Originally Published on Dec 16, 2018)

“WE’RE NOT AFRAID of the Russians, we’re afraid of their helicopters.”

The Mujahideen fighter who spoke these often referenced words during the Afghanistan War of the 1980s was probably talking about one Soviet chopper in particular: the Mil design bureau’s Mi-24.

Designed as a heavily armed, armoured troop-transport for use against NATO forces on European battlefields, as many as 250 of the winged, 18,000-pound choppers, codenamed the “Hind” by Western intelligence, appeared in the skies over Afghanistan during Moscow’s nine-year campaign there.

Bristling with guns, cannons, rocket pods and guided missiles, Mi-24s famously flew search-and-destroy missions across the embattled country’s rugged landscape. When not ferrying troops into combat, Hinds, which were virtually impervious to small arms and heavy machine gun fire, often swooped down on the enemy from high-altitudes or pounced on unsuspecting insurgents while flying high-speed, ground-hugging nap-of-the-earth patrols.

Eliminating the threat posed by the fearsome and seemingly indestructible helicopters became a top priority for both the Afghan resistance and the Western intelligence agencies that armed and supported them.

It wasn’t until the introduction of precision portable surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) like the FIM-92 Stinger in the war’s final years that the Mi-24’s reign of terror over the Afghan countryside finally ended.

In its heyday, the Hind was a formidable symbol of Soviet military power, appearing not just in Afghanistan but several hot spots around the globe during the 1970s and 80s. It would continue to serve after the collapse of the U.S.S.R. with upgraded variants soldiering on in Russia’s post-Cold War military and other foreign armies to this day. Here are 10 amazing facts about one of history’s deadliest helicopters.

It was inspired by America’s helicopter war in Vietnam

The brainchild of Russian helicopter designer Mikhail Leont’yevich Mil, the Mi-24 was fielded in the 1960s to counter to U.S. Vietnam-era choppers like the Bell UH-1 Iroquois or “Huey” and the AH-1 Cobra gunship. As early as 1966, Mil proposed an armed troop transport that could both carry infantry into battle and fight as well – a sort of flying armoured personnel carrier. Two years later, Moscow ordered the full-scale development of what would become the world’s first ‘assault helicopter.’ By 1969, working prototypes were in the air and in 1972 the first Mi-24s entered service. Eventually, more than 2,600 would be built.

It carried a surprisingly powerful arsenal

The expression ‘armed to the teeth’ might have been coined with the Mi-24 in mind. Outfitted with a specially-designed, four-barrel, 12.7 mm Gatling gun in the nose and forward-firing, twin 23-mm cannons in the fuselage, the Hind also featured MGs mounted in its side windows. In addition, it could haul 3,300 pounds of external weaponry slung under its stubby wings, including everything from 32×57-mm rocket pods and rapid-fire grenade launchers to guided anti-tank missiles, auto-canons and an assortment of free-fall and drag bombs. The Hind’s troop compartment, accessible through side doors on the fuselage, could carry a squad of eight fully armed infantrymen, up to four litters or 2,400 pounds of cargo.

It was virtually bulletproof

Designers built the Mi-24 to be hard to defeat. The fuselage was armour-plated and could survive a direct hit from a .50 caliber round. Each of its 57.4-foot main rotors were made from titanium and could also withstand heavy machine-gun fire. D-model and later Hinds featured separate twin-tandem cockpits protected by hardened canopies – the rear seat for the pilot, the forward position for the gunner. Both compartments were pressurized to protect the crew from nuclear, chemical and biological attack. Until the acquisition of Stinger and Redeye SAMs, the Afghan resistance’s only hope of downing a Mi-24 was by way of a direct hit from an unguided anti-tank weapon like the RPG-7.

It was the fastest helicopter on Earth

Designed for speed, the Mi-24 was propelled by two large turboshaft engines and a five-bladed main rotor system with a three-blade tail assembly. Original models featured a smooth aerodynamic frame with greenhouse-style glass canopy, while all variants incorporated drag-reducing retractable tricycle landing gear. The helicopter’s wings, which in addition to allowing for a small arsenal of external weaponry, provided additional lift. Despite its bulky frame, the Mi-24 had a maximum speed of more than 200 mph. A specially modified version, dubbed the A-10, broke the world record for the fastest helicopter in 1978 after reaching speeds of nearly 229 mph.

It was in a class all its own

Western intelligence had never seen anything like the Mi-24 when it first appeared in the early 1970s. NATO powers had helicopters that could carry troops into battle and even armed gunships, but nothing that merged both roles. America’s Sikorsky Aircraft explored the concept in the early 1970s with the S-67 Blackhawk. The sleek, high-speed assault chopper featured a two-person crew and was armed with a 30-mm automatic cannon and 16 TOW anti-tank projectiles, a battery of 70-mm rockets or even Sidewinder missiles. A compartment in the fuselage provided room for up to eight infantrymen. The U.S. Army initially showed interest in the concept, but the project was abandoned after the only prototype crashed during a demonstration flight in 1972. Eventually, the Pentagon went with the UH-60, also dubbed the Black Hawk, and the AH-64 Apache gunship.

It fought in nearly 30 conflicts over 40 years

Although it would become well-known for its role in the Afghanistan War, the Mi-24 saw action in a number of the world’s trouble spots. Even before the 1979 Soviet invasion, Moscow supplied its Ethiopian and Cuban allies with Mi-24s to use against Somali forces in the disputed Ogaden region. Libya deployed the helicopter in its long intervention in Chad and Iraq flew them against Iran during the eight-year war in the Persian Gulf. Nicaragua’s Sandinistas operated Hinds against U.S.-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s. Since then, Mi-24s have appeared in dozens of conflicts across Africa, the Arab world and the former Soviet Union. Upgraded Hinds are currently flying over war-ravaged Syria, while former East Bloc powers like Poland and the Czech Republic have deployed Mi-24s as part of the international effort in Afghanistan.

It’s been used by more than 60 militaries worldwide

With a relatively low sticker price of $12 million (almost half of the cost of the $22 million American UH-60 Blackhawk), Mi-24s have been widely exported to just about every corner of the planet. In all, more than 60 nations have operated Hinds or currently maintain fleets of them. These include former Warsaw Pact nations like Hungary and Bulgaria and remnants of the old U.S.S.R. such as Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus. Old Soviet client states like Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea fly them as do other powers like Brazil, India, Pakistan Mexico and Venezuela. Even the United States military operates a handful, which it uses for training purposes.

It spawned more than 40 variants

Since first taking to the air 50 years ago, dozens of different models of the Mi-24 have appeared. In addition to the standard assault/gunship variants, like the A through D marks, Mil has produced reconnaissance versions, search and rescue models, maritime and minesweeper types, night attack editions, as well as civilian police variants along with a series of export versions, designated the Mi-25 and Mi-35. Designers continue to modernize and upgrade the Mi-24 for 21^st Century battlefields.

It went by many names

The Mi-24 has acquired a number of strange nicknames in its time. The Afghan resistance dubbed it “Satan’s Chariot,” while Soviet aircrews lovingly dubbed the A model the “Drinking Glass” because of its greenhouse-style glass cockpit. Others called it the Crocodile because of its distinctive camouflage paint scheme, as well as its rugged durability. Perhaps the most apt moniker for the Mi-24 though speaks to the chopper’s lethal weaponry and legendary survivability: the “Flying Tank.”

Here’s where you can see one for yourself

You don’t have to travel to one of the world’s dangerous hot spots to lay your eyes on a Mi-24; there are a number on display in various museums. Of course Russia’s Central Air Force Museum exhibits several, while Military museums in Tehran, Berlin, Brussels and South Africa all are home to Hinds, as well. Britain’s Imperial War Museum at Duxford, the Helicopter Museum in Somerset and the Midland Air Museum all have Mi-24s in their collections. And if you’re in the U.S., you can check one out at Birmingham, Alabama’s Southern Museum of Flight, the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson and the Cold War Air Museum in Lancaster Texas, to name a few places.