Airborne troops and other specialunits in the event of war must perform combat missions in the rear of the enemy. They are well prepared, well equipped, but they may still be doomed to death or captivity if they are not provided with timely support. Marines are cut off from supplies and can only rely on their own strength. The first war in which helicopters were massively used to deliver manpower, cargo, evacuate the wounded and killed, as well as to attack land targets was the Vietnamese one. In the USSR, disputes over the expediency of borrowing the American experience continued between the senior military experts during the 1960s. Ultimately, supporters of the "rotor-wing cavalry" won, but with a certain reservation. The expression of the Soviet concept was the Mi-24 - a helicopter designed to perform two combat functions at once - airborne and assault.
Американский опыт был основан на специализации rotary-wing technology. The most used "horse" of the US air cavalry was the famous "Huey" UH-1 (aka "Iroquois" - a small, compact and roomy machine). Another advantage of the “flying jeep” was its tremendous reliability and survivability (in this it really looks like a Willis). It was this helicopter that landed landings, provided them with ammunition and everything they needed, sometimes right during the battle and under fire. On the "Huey" took out the wounded. He could also cover himself, cassettes with missiles were installed on the sides, and the machine gunner fired through the doorway. However, this helicopter cannot be called a full-blown one, its capabilities are limited. Therefore, the Cobra AH-1 usually worked together with him. This car had an almost identical powerplant with the Huey, but everything else was very different. The hull is predatory-narrow, armored, the glazing is bullet-proof, there is a quick-firing gun in the nose, and reinforced rocket armament along the sides of the pylon wings. The capabilities of these two machines should have been combined by the Mi-24 helicopter-armored personnel carrier, as distinguished by its appointment by an outstanding aircraft designer Mikhail Leontievich Mil.
М. Л.Miles had considerable experience in the construction of rotary-winged vehicles. The machines he created were intended to perform peaceful work, but he did not forget about the defense of the KB. The world's first helicopter, equipped with built-in small arms, was the Mi-4, created in 1949. With all its outstanding flight and performance qualities, this car in the second half of the sixties already needed to be replaced. But Mikhail Leontievich went further, he expressed a desire to build an unprecedented car and spoke at the USSR Ministry of Defense with a report in which he outlined his technical idea (1967). She was perceived ambiguously. General Epishev called the idea nonsense and even offered to put the general designer on a helicopter and send him somewhere to war. But General Molotkov, who led the TsNII-30 and understood in technical aspects a little more than the head of the political department, got carried away with the idea. Ultimately, supporters of the new concept won, and Mil Design Bureau began to prepare its proposal at the level of a technical draft. Thus, in 1968, the Mi-24, an army attack helicopter with the possibility of delivering a detachment of paratroopers, became the “swan song” of Mikhail Leontievich Mil. Prior to its completion, the outstanding designer did not live.
The compositional scheme was chosen classical, withone rotor with five blades (like the Mi-8, but a little shorter) and a three-bladed propeller at the end of the tail boom. The chassis was decided to make retractable to improve aerodynamics. The novelty was manifested in the inclination of the main rotor axis not only forward (4.5 °), but also sideways (to the right) by two and a half degrees, for partial compensation of the torque during straight-line flight. For the first time introduced the position of the arms operator. The carrier wing, which reduces fuel consumption at the expense of lift, was already used in the construction of the Mi-6. The Mi-24 also received it, the helicopter became more stable after it was given a negative V-shape. The power plant along with the transmission in general, was borrowed from the Mi-8 with some changes due to the combat mission of the new car.
Two turbine engines, TV3-117 (in modernmodifications), 2200 “horses” each. The shooter and pilot places are arranged in a tandem-step manner, with a certain shift of the axis of symmetry to improve the view. The layout of the crew has been repeatedly processed, the engineers did not immediately come to the best option. Armored glass with flat front surfaces caused an association with a glass to some of the servicemen, which resulted in one of the unofficial names of the Mi-24. The helicopter has a few more playful nicknames: “crocodile” (for the elongated predatory silhouette), “Galina” and even “doe” (Hind - so, apparently for swiftness, he was nicknamed by the military experts of NATO).
The pilot may be a flight mechanic, a folding seat is provided for him, but in real combat conditions he is not always taken on a flight.
This is followed by the compartment, called the cargo, it fits eight fighters in full gear. The tail part is filled with equipment and niches for the main stands in the retracted state.
At the beginning of 1970, M. L. Mil. Died.The new general designer M. N. Tishchenko had to finish the work begun by his senior comrade. There were enough problems. The glazing of the lantern, for which the aircraft of the early modifications was called the "veranda" or "glass", was not very successful, as was the location of the crew seats. Not everything was well with lateral stability. At the time of leaving the first assembly shop of the first Mi-24, the helicopter did not receive weapons. The “Sturm” complex and a rapid-fire machine gun were in the finalization stage. It was decided to install two Phalanga-M ATGMs. The K-4B 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 bombers. The final appearance, known today to the whole world, was attacked by the Mi-24 attack helicopter in 1973. During the refinement, he changed several indices. All this time he was called “product” (for reasons of privacy) with numbers (245, 244, 246).
In terms of its parameters, the machine, if it does not take into account its ability to carry troops, is close to wartime attack aircraft.
Скорость крейсерская (270 км/ч) и максимальная (335 km / h) is even slightly less than that of the famous “flying tank” IL-2. The practical flight range is 450 km. The main working ceiling is 1400 m, but if necessary (especially in mountainous areas), the machine is able to climb almost 5 km. At one o'clock, a military Mi-24 helicopter consumes 780 liters of kerosene, of course, more than a “civilian” fellow Mi-8.
Машину легкой назвать нельзя.The weight was affected by many features of the design, reservation and duplication of functions to improve reliability in case of damage to components and assemblies. It was this circumstance that later gave grounds to some military experts to criticize the Mi-24 helicopter. Technical characteristics of the universal machine were not the best for the shock unit. At the same time, the amphibious capabilities also turned out to be modest - only eight fighters (for comparison, the Iroquois takes on board 14 people, and in Vietnam there were even more when transporting the wounded). However, the possibility of dual use of the machine had its positive aspects. The weight of an empty helicopter is 7.58 tons. To obtain the maximum take-off weight, you need to add three tons (capacity of all tanks) and a combat load of 2.4 tons (not so little). Do not forget that the crew with the landing is also not vain. In total, about 11.5 tons is obtained.
In the late seventies, many localarmed conflicts. In one of them, in the Ethiopian-Somali war of 1978, the Mi-24 helicopter “lit up” for the first time. The technical characteristics of the vehicle fully corresponded to the nature of the fighting, it successfully “worked” on the columns of armored vehicles and the positions of Somali troops, and the Cuban volunteer pilots trained in the USSR assisted the Ethiopian army. The main weapon in this war were unguided C-5 missiles. The enemy was unable to knock out a single helicopter, several units were lost during a ground attack on the airfield of Asmar, where the aircraft was based. But the main battle experience was ahead ...
Since the end of 1979, the Mi-24 combat helicopter has becomea permanent inhabitant of the hot afghan sky. Operating conditions here were not just harsh, they can be called hellish. Dust, sand and dirt damaged turbine blades, maintenance was often carried out without complying with technical regulations. But all the "ground" problems faded compared with the fire impact that the machines were subjected to from the sides of the Mujahideen detachments daily and hourly. According to many combatants, the Mi-24 has become the materialized symbol of the Afghan war. The helicopter covered the landing of the battle groups, evacuated the ambushed units, shot at NURS and bombed the fortified areas with volume charges. It is difficult to overestimate his role in this war, as well as the number of soldier lives saved by him.
After the collapse of the unified Soviet state militaryThe Mi-24 helicopter, built in record quantities (3.5 thousand units), was at the disposal of almost all newly formed states. In addition, he is in service with the armies of more than two dozen countries, including the exotic - Senegal, Sierra Leone and Myanmar. Without a case, he does not have to stand idle. It is relatively easy to control it (which is typical for Soviet-made aircraft), it is unpretentious in operation, and in terms of combat effectiveness there is only a few similar aircraft that can surpass the Mi-24 helicopter. Its characteristics are optimal for action in local wars. In 1982, the Iraqi pilot even managed to hit a supersonic F-4 "Phantom" Iranian Air Force with a rocket volley.
This rotary wing machine is used andthe UN humanitarian intermediary missions, in this case it is painted white. “Crocodile” had to fight in two and a half dozen wars. Some of them continue to this day.
Столь популярной машине, прославившейся своим a characteristic silhouette all over the world, the role of a "star" was prepared in advance. In two dozen computer games as one of the characters involved Mi-24. The army attack helicopter became the hero of films both artistic and documentary. Its miniature copies are made by many firms specializing in the manufacture of prefabricated models and layouts. Today, no one is surprised that a Mi-24 radio-controlled helicopter can be offered to the buyer on the counter, which can be piloted using the remote control. Well, people like to play war games ...
