The Mil Mi-24 is a large helicopter gunship, helicopter attack and low-capacity troop transport with room for 8 passengers.It is manufactured by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been operated alongside 48 other nations by the Soviet Air Force and its successors since 1972. The export models, Mi-25 and Mi-35, are denoted in NATO circles as "Hind D" and "Hind E" with letter suffix. Soviet pilots named the Mi-24 the "flying tank," a phrase used traditionally with the famous Shturmovik armored ground attack aircraft of the Second World War, Il-2 Shturmovik. More common non-official nicknames have been "Galina" (or "Galya"), "Crocodile" Because of the camouflage scheme of the aircraft and "Drinking Glass" (Stakan), because of the flat glass plates lining the cockpits of earlier Mi-24 versions.

Development

It became evident to Soviet designer Mikhail Mil during the early 1960s that the trend towards ever-increasing mobility on the battlefield would result in the creation of flying infantry fighting vehicles that could be used to conduct both fire support and infantry transport missions. The first manifestation of this idea was a mock-up unveiled in 1966 in the Factory number 329 of the Ministry of Aircraft's experimental shop, where Mil was head designer. The designatedV-24 mock-up was based on another project, theV-22 utility helicopter, which has never flew. The V-24 had a central infantry compartment that could hold eight troops sitting back to back, and a set of small wings positioned to the top rear of the passenger cabin, capable of holding up to six missiles or rockets and a twin-barreled GSh-23L cannon fixed to the landing skid.