The time the Army stole an Mi-25

In the 1970s the Soviet Union introduced the Mi-24 Hind gunship, and sent a shock through military analysts the world over. The Hind was built from the ground up as a gunship, and was one the most heavily armed gunships in the world, but was also capable of carrying 8 troops on board, unlike the helicopters used by the West, which did one of the other. The CIA, and other intelligence agencies wanted to get a better look at the Hind.

In the early 1980s, the Soviets started exporting the Mi-25 Hind D, the export version of the Mi-24. The West wanted to get their hands on one, to determine if they needed to build something similar. In 1987 the opportunity arose to get a close look at one.

All this would have to be done through a covert operation. After negotiating with (and eventually gaining permission from) the Chadian government through diplomatic channels, the CIA enlisted the Department of Defense’s help, and both began planning the extraction of the abandoned helo to American-controlled facilities, where it would be taken apart and analyzed in details. There’s a saying in the military that goes along the lines of: “Gear adrift is a gift”. Christmas was about to come very early for a bunch of CIA analysts and military technical experts.

tacairnet.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

So -- reading the article it was not so much "theft" as just helping yourself to uneaten leftovers.

An opportunity for such a look finally presented itself in the form of the discovery of a Libyan Mi-25 left behind in Chadian territory in 1987.

For some reason that seems a little more ethical to me. (Not sure why that would really matter, but strangely it does.)

Also, this article makes me wonder what happened to the fancy USA stealth helicopter we left in Pakistan after the Bin Laden mission:

www.reuters.com...

I know they let China see it -- I wonder if it ended up in the hands of the highest bidder?

a reply to: Zaphod58

This kind of reminds me of the movie "The Hunt for Red October." Supposedly taken from a true story related of the Russian warship Storozhevoy. However, it wasn't planned by the U.S. but it was based upon the real life mutiny of Valery Sablin.

I'm sure Russia and China have their own ways of getting their hands on U.S. technology and back engineering it.

I love me some Russian Crocodiles, one of my favorites in the helo world. If I ever win the lottery or make it in the stock trade one of these will surely be one of the blackholes I sink money into.

The Mil Mi-24 (Russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship and attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and operated since 1972 by the Soviet Air Force, its successors, and more than 30 other nations.

mi-24.com...

Here is one at the Cold War Air Museum in Lancaster Texas, A definite stop for any nation wide tour of aviation.


And another at an airshow demonstration showing off, That sexy lady has some moves and I really dig the paintjob.


...And if you really have an hour to kill. (20 secs in and I was hooked)

I remember hearing about the race to capture the Hind shot down in Afghanistan, MI6 made it their first and got a look before handing it over to the Americans.

a reply to: StratosFear

Well, you hooked me with those vids.

Watched the lot. Great entertainment. Thankyou SF>

Bally

a reply to: Zaphod58

Never really seen the point of putting troops in a gunship. Too many casualties if you lose it.

Saves taking two choppers to do a hot insertion when a Hind can lay into the target first before it drops off its troops.

Gotta love 160th.

Bunch of crazy MFers. God love 'em.

Loaded a chinook onto a c-5.

hard to imagine... but I found a pic



that's a huge plane.

so what did they learn after they dissected the hind?

a reply to: BASSPLYR

They didn't dissect it. They put it back together and flew it for years.

a reply to: grey580

originally posted by: Zaphod58
In the 1970s the Soviet Union introduced the Mi-24 Hind gunship, and sent a shock through military analysts the world over. The Hind was built from the ground up as a gunship, and was one the most heavily armed gunships in the world, but was also capable of carrying 8 troops on board, unlike the helicopters used by the West, which did one of the other.

Nasty lookin' #er, ain't it? Great yarn, thanks for passing it along.

For ugliness, it's hard to beat the latest South African Superhind. Not that the Hind was ever "pretty", really.

Reminds me of the story when the US got their hands on a MIG-21 during the vietnam war.
The MIG had a kill ratio of 1:7 on US fighters or something, so it had to be some secret tech...
Turned out, the pilots had just more advanced training in dog fighting and were far better pilots