In the event of war, airborne troops and other special units must carry out combat missions behind enemy lines. They are well prepared, well equipped, but they can still be doomed to death or captivity if they are not provided with timely support. The paratroopers are cut off from supplies and can only rely on their own forces. The first war, in which helicopters were massively used to deliver manpower, cargo, evacuate the wounded and killed, as well as to attack ground targets, was Vietnamese. In the USSR, senior military controversy continued during the 1960s over the appropriateness of borrowing American experience. In the end, supporters of the "rotorcraft cavalry" won, but with a certain caveat. The expression of the Soviet concept was the Mi-24 - a helicopter designed to perform two combat functions at once - landing and assault.
The difference between the concepts of military helicopter engineering in the USSR and the USA
The American experience was based on the specialization of rotorcraft technology. The most used “horse” of the US air cavalry was the famous “Huey” UH-1 (aka “Iroquois” - the car is small, compact and spacious at the same time). Another advantage of the "flying jeep" was its amazing reliability and survivability (in this it really looks like a "Willis"). It was this helicopter that landed troops, provided them with ammunition and everything necessary, sometimes right during the battle and under fire. The wounded were taken to the Huey. He himself could provide cover, rocket cartridges were installed on the sides, and a machine gunner fired through the doorway. However, this helicopter cannot be called fully impact, its capabilities are limited. Therefore, together with him, usually worked "Cobra" AH-1. This car had a power plant almost identical to the Huey, but everything else was very different. The body is predatory-narrow, armored, the bullet-proof glazing lamp, a quick-fire gun in the bow, and reinforced missile weapons on the sides of the pylon wings. The capabilities of these two machines were to be combined by the Mi-24, the BTR helicopter, as its outstanding aircraft designer Mikhail Leontyevich Mil defined its purpose.
Departmental disputes
M.L. Miles had considerable experience in the construction of rotorcraft. The machines he created were intended to carry out peaceful work, but they did not forget about the defense of the Design Bureau. The world's first helicopter equipped with integrated small arms was the Mi-4, created in 1949. With all its outstanding flight and operational qualities, this car in the second half of the sixties already needed to be replaced. But Mikhail Leontyevich went further, he expressed a desire to build an unprecedented car and made a report at the USSR Ministry of Defense, in which he outlined his technical idea (1967). She was perceived ambiguously. General Epishev called the idea nonsense and even proposed to put the general designer on a helicopter and send him somewhere to fight. But General Molotkov, who headed the Central Research Institute-30 and understood in technical aspects a little more than the head of the political department, got carried away by the idea. In the end, the supporters of the new concept won, and KB Mil began to prepare his proposal already at the level of the technical outline design. So in 1968 the Mi-24 was born, an army attack helicopter with the possibility of delivering an airborne squad, which became the “swan song” of Mikhail Mil Leontievich. Before its completion, the outstanding designer did not live.
New technical ideas
The compositional scheme was chosen classic, with one main rotor having five blades (like the Mi-8, but slightly shorter) and a three-bladed steering propeller at the end of the main tail boom. It was decided to make the chassis retractable to improve aerodynamics. The novelty was manifested in the inclination of the axis of the rotor not only forward (4.5 °), but also sideways (to the right) by two and a half degrees, for partial compensation of torque during a straight flight. The position of an arms operator was introduced for the first time. The carrier wing, which reduces fuel consumption due to lift, has already been used in the design of the Mi-6. I got it and the Mi-24, the helicopter became more stable after it was given a negative V-shape. The power plant, together with the transmission, was by and large borrowed from the Mi-8 with some changes due to the combat purpose of the new machine.
Design
There are two turbine engines, TV3-117 (in modern versions), 2200 “horses” each. The places of the shooter and the pilot are arranged in a tandem-step-like manner, with some shift of the axis of symmetry to improve visibility. The crew layout was repeatedly reworked; engineers did not immediately come to the best option. Bulletproof glass with flat frontal surfaces caused someone from the military to associate with a glass, which is why one of the unofficial names of the Mi-24 appeared. The helicopter has some more playful nicknames: “crocodile” (for its elongated predatory silhouette), “Galina” and even “doe” (Hind - so, obviously for its swiftness, it was called NATO military experts).
There may be a flight mechanic behind the pilot, a folding seat is provided for him, but in real combat conditions he is not always taken on a flight.
Then follows the compartment, called the cargo compartment, it houses eight fighters in full gear. The tail section is filled with equipment and niches for the main racks in the retracted state.
Finalization of the helicopter
At the beginning of 1970, M.L. Mil died. The new general designer M. N. Tishchenko had to complete the work begun by the senior comrade. There were enough problems. The glazing of the lantern, for which the aircraft of early modifications was called the "veranda" or "glass", was not very successful, as well as the location of the crew seats. Not everything was well with lateral stability. At the time of the exit of the factory assembly shop of the first Mi-24, the helicopter had not yet received weapons. The Sturm complex and the rapid-fire machine gun were under development. It was decided to install 2 Phalanga-M ATGMs so far. The K-4V machine gun was also used temporarily, it was already in service with the Mi-4 and Mi-8. It was necessary to equip the car with NUPS units and bomb spreaders. The Mi-24 attack helicopter acquired its final form, known today around the world in 1973. During debugging, he changed several indices. All this time it was called a “product” (for reasons of secrecy) with numbers (245, 244, 246).
Flight characteristics
According to its parameters, the machine, if you do not take into account its ability to carry an assault, is close to wartime attack aircraft.
The cruising speed (270 km / h) and the maximum (335 km / h) are even slightly lower than that of the illustrious “flying tank” Il-2. The practical range is 450 km. The main working ceiling is 1400 m, but if necessary (especially in mountainous areas) the car is able to rise by almost 5 km. An Mi-24 military helicopter spends 780 liters of kerosene per hour, of course, more than the "civilian" fellow Mi-8.
Weight parameters
The car can not be called easy. The mass was influenced by many design features, booking and duplication of functions to increase reliability in case of damage to components and assemblies. It was this circumstance that gave grounds for some military experts to criticize the Mi-24 helicopter in the future. Technical characteristics of a universal machine were not the best for a strike unit. At the same time, the landing capabilities also turned out to be modest - only eight fighters (for comparison, the Iroquois takes on board 14 people, and in Vietnam there were more to take out the wounded). However, the possibility of double use of the machine had its positive aspects. The empty helicopter weighs 7.58 tons. To get the maximum take-off weight, you need to add three tons (the capacity of all tanks) and a combat load of 2.4 tons (not so little). Do not forget that the crew with the landing are also not disembodied. A total of approximately 11.5 tons.
First Experience - Ethiopia
In the late seventies, many local armed conflicts took place. In one of them, in the Ethiopo-Somali war of 1978, the Mi-24 helicopter "lit up" for the first time. The technical characteristics of the machine corresponded to the nature of the hostilities, it successfully "worked" on the columns of armored vehicles and the positions of the Somali troops, the help of the Ethiopian army was provided by Cuban volunteer pilots trained in the USSR. The main weapon in this war was the S-5 unguided missiles. The enemy failed to knock out a single helicopter, several units were lost during a ground attack on the Asmara airfield, where the aircraft was based. But the main combat experience was ahead ...
Fulfilling international duty
Since the end of 1979, the Mi-24 combat helicopter has become a permanent resident of the hot Afghan sky. The operating conditions here were not just difficult, they can be called hellish. Dust, sand and dirt damaged the turbine blades, maintenance was often carried out without observing technical regulations. But all the "ground" problems faded in comparison with the fire impact to which the machines were exposed from the sides of the Mujahideen detachments daily and hourly. According to many participants in the hostilities, the Mi-24 became the embodied symbol of the Afghan war. The helicopter covered the landings of battle groups, evacuated the units that were ambushed, shot NURSs and bombarded fortified areas with space charges. It is difficult to overestimate his role in this war, as well as to count the number of soldier's lives he saved.
Crocodile Abroad
After the collapse of a single Soviet state, the Mi-24 military helicopter, built in record numbers (3.5 thousand units), was at the disposal of almost all newly formed states. In addition, it is in service with the armies of more than two dozen countries, including exotic ones - Senegal, Sierra Leone and Myanmar. He does not have to stand idle. It is relatively easy to control (which is typical for Soviet-made aircraft), it is unpretentious in operation, and in terms of combat effectiveness there are few similar aircraft that can surpass the Mi-24 helicopter. Its characteristics are optimal for action in local wars. In 1982, an Iraqi pilot even managed to hit a supersonic F-4 Phantom of the Iranian Air Force with a rocket salvo.
This rotorcraft is also used in the implementation of the UN humanitarian and mediation missions, in which case it is painted white. The Crocodile had to fight in two and a half dozen wars. Some of them continue to this day.
Toys
Such a popular car, famous for its characteristic silhouette all over the world, had the role of a “star” in advance. In two dozen computer games, one of the characters is the Mi-24. Army attack helicopter became the hero of films, both artistic and documentary. Its miniature copies are produced by many companies specializing in the manufacture of prefabricated models and layouts. Today, it is not surprising to anyone that on the counter a radio-controlled Mi-24 helicopter can be offered to the buyer, which can be piloted using a remote control. Well, people like to play war games ...