Combat helicopter Mi-35M: history, description and characteristics

The Mi-35M is an export version of the Russian combat helicopter Mi-24 VM, which is a modification of the famous Soviet rotary-wing vehicle. Soviet pilots called it a "flying tank" by analogy with the Il-2 assault aircraft known during the Second World War. The unofficial nickname of the combat apparatus was "Crocodile" because of the typical scheme of camouflage of the helicopter.

When did the Mi-35M precursor appear?

In the early 1960s, it seemed to Soviet designer Mikhail Mile that the trend towards ever-increasing combat mobility would lead to the creation of flying infantry support vehicles that could be used to carry out both combat and transport tasks. The first model of the B-24 helicopter expressing this concept, developed under the direction of Mile, was presented in 1966 in the pilot workshop of the Ministry of Aviation Industry. The concept of this product was based on another project - a general-purpose helicopter V-22, which never flew independently. The B-24 had a central cargo-passenger compartment that could accommodate eight people sitting back to back and small wings capable of carrying up to six missiles and located at the top of the rear of the helicopter, as well as a double-barrel cannon.

Decision on the commencement of development

Mil offered his design to the leaders of the Soviet armed forces. While it received the support of a number of military leaders, others believed that the development of conventional weapons would be the best use of resources. Despite the opposition, Mily managed to convince the first deputy defense minister, Marshal Andrei Grechko, to convene experts to study this issue. Eventually, Mil's proposal won, and the Ministry of Defense's request for the development of a helicopter to support the infantry was issued. Thus began the long way of development combat helicopter Mi-35M. The history of its development took place against the backdrop of the development and use of combat and strike helicopters by the US Army during the Vietnam War. The practice of using them convinced the Soviet leadership of the advantages of the armed helicopter and helped support the development of the Mi-24 project, which in our time has turned into a Mil Mi-35M helicopter.

Course of development

Initially, the engineers of the Mil Design Bureau prepared two main design options: a 7-ton single-engine and a 10.5-ton twin-engine. On May 6, 1968, a directive was issued to start developing the second version. Work was under the direction of Mile until his death in 1970. Work began on designing in August 1968. The full-scale model of the helicopter was considered and approved in February 1969. Flight tests of the prototype, later turned into a Mi-35M helicopter, began on September 15, 1969 with the anchorage of the guidance system, and four days later the first free flight was conducted. Soon a second copy was built, and then a test batch of ten helicopters was released.

A revision of the remarks of the military

Acceptance tests of prototypes of the current Mi-35M - Mi-24 helicopters - began in June 1970, lasting for 18 months. The changes made to the design were aimed at strengthening structural strength, eliminating the fatigue problem and reducing the level of vibration. In addition, a negative 12-degree incline was introduced in the wings in order to eliminate the tendency of the helicopter to yaw from side to side at speeds over 200 km / h, and the rocket pylons of the Falanga-M complex were transferred from the fuselage to the wing tips. The steering screw was moved from the right to the left side of the tail, and the direction of rotation was reversed. A number of other design changes were made before the production of the first version of the Mi-24A in 1970 began. Having received confirmation of its efficiency in 1971, it was officially adopted a year later.

General Construction Overview

In general, it was borrowed from a Mi-8 helicopter (classified by NATO as "Hip") with two top-mounted turbo engines, a five-blade main propeller and a three-bladed tail rotor. The configuration of the engines gave the Mi-35M helicopter its characteristic air intakes from both sides of the fuselage. The original versions have a tandem layout of the cockpit: an arrow is placed in front, and a pilot is sitting over it a little behind.

The Mi-24 fuselage was heavily armored and could withstand the impact from hits of 12.7 mm bullets from all directions. Titanium blades are also resistant to 12.7 mm ammunition. The cabin is protected by wind armored glass and a titanium reinforced tray. In the sealed cockpit, excessive pressure is maintained to protect the crew in a radioactive contamination environment.

Flight characteristics

Considerable attention was paid to giving the Mi-24 the highest possible speed. The fuselage was streamlined and equipped with a retractable landing gear to reduce drag. At high speed, the wings provide a significant lifting force (up to a quarter of its total value). The main screw is tilted 2.5 ° to the right of the fuselage to compensate for the tendency to skew when stationary. The chassis is also tilted to the left, which deflects the entire Mi-35 combat helicopter in the same direction when it is on the ground. The main screw is in the horizontal plane. The tail is also asymmetric, which creates a lateral force on it at speed, thus unloading the tail rotor.

Modifications of the basic model

The Mi-24A was the first mass-produced helicopter since 1971. He did not yet have a tandem cockpit, and his tail propeller was initially located on the right. After the transfer of the screw to the left side, it remains there on all subsequent models.

The next helicopter that went into the series since 1973 was the Mi-24D model. It first appears tandem cabin.

Since 1976, the Mi-24V model has gone into serial production, on which anti-tank missiles of the Sturm-B system have appeared for the first time. Until 1986, they were set only 4, and then their number increased to 16.

The top of the Soviet stage of development of the Mi-24 brand was the Mi-24 EP model, which was manufactured since 1989. In addition to anti-tank missiles, the Mi-24 VP was equipped with air-to-air missiles and Igla-S surface-to-air missiles. Thus, it could hit both ground-based armored and air targets (helicopters, ground attack planes, drones). His American analogue AH-64A Apache was much inferior to him in speed, combat capabilities. Security.

The Russian Stage of Brand Modernization

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the development of the famous family of "Milev" assault helicopters was interrupted for more than 20 years. The Mi-24 EP was produced in only 30 copies.

Finally, in the second half of 2000, a purely Russian model of the Mi-24VM helicopter appeared. It has an unselected chassis, it can carry the following types of missiles: anti-tank type "air-to-air" and anti-aircraft type "Igla-V". To protect against ground-based MANPADS, which are imposed on the thermal radiation of the helicopter's engine, it is equipped with a system of protective infrared jamming.

For export, the Mi-24VM helicopter is supplied under the designation Mi-35M. How does he look? Photos of real combat vehicles can not always convey all the features of the design. Very vividly conveys their plastic model of the Mi-35M helicopter (1:72) "Zvezda", widely distributed among Russian and foreign aircraft lovers and shown in the photo below.

Mi-24V flight speed records

He was the most common model of this combat vehicle. On the Mi-24V, several world records of the speed of flight and the time of ascent to a given altitude were established. The helicopter was modified to reduce its weight as much as possible - one of the modifications was the removal of the wings of the wings.

Several official records in various nominations for the Mi-24V were installed by the women's crew of Galina Rastorgueva and Lyudmila Polyanskaya in the 70s of the last century. So on July 16, 1975, they reached a speed of 341.32 km / h when flying in a straight line for a distance of 15/25 km, and on July 18, 1975, a speed record was set at 334.46 km / h when driving in a circle of 100 km . On August 1, 1975, when flying in a circle of 500 km, this value was 331.02 km / h, and on August 13, 1975, when the helicopter accelerated without a payload along a closed trajectory of 1000 km, the helicopter accelerated to 332.65 km / h. Records are kept to the present day.

Comparison with western helicopters

What is the difference between the Mi-35M helicopter? Its characteristics combine the qualities of an armored combat vehicle and a transport helicopter. It does not have a direct analogue in the armies of the NATO countries. It is known that UH-1 (Huey) helicopters were used during the war in Vietnam either for the transfer of troops or as combat vehicles, but they were not able to perform both tasks in parallel. Conversion of UH-1 into a combat helicopter meant clearing the entire compartment to accommodate passengers for additional fuel and ammunition, and as a result, the loss of the opportunity to use it as a vehicle. The Mi-24 and all its subsequent modifications, including the Mi-35M, was designed to perform both tasks, and its capabilities were confirmed during the war in Afghanistan in 1980-1989.

His closest western equivalent was Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk, who used many of the same design principles and was built as a high-speed and highly maneuver assault helicopter with limited transportation capabilities and the use of multiple nodes from the earlier Sikorsky S-61 model. The S-67, however, was not adopted. The Mi-24 was named the world's only "assault helicopter" due to a combination of firepower and the ability to transfer troops.