Mi-24 HIND: The Flying Russian Crocodile Can Fight and Flee

Most helicopters are designed to either carry a lot of cargo at the expense of maneuverability—like the Chinook—or be quick and nimble while sacrificing armament and transport capabilities, like the Huey. Russia's Mi-24 HIND multi-mission gunship isn't "most helicopters."

The Mil Mi-24 is a dual-role helicopter gunship designed as both a attack helicopter and 8-troop/4-litter transport. The Soviet Union produced more than 2,500 HIND variants at the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant beginning in 1972 and used them extensively through out the Soviet War in Afghanistan. The concept of a multi-mission gunship was quite revolutionary at the time of its inception and even today, the HIND has no direct NATO equivalent and is only roughly recreated in the American Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk.

The HIND was built off the older Mi-8 Hip and Mi-14 Haze helicopters hand measures 57 feet long, 21 feet wide, and 21 feet tall. The HIND wasn't built for comfort, it was built for speed. It features a pair of top-mounted Isotov TV3-117 turboshaft engines driving a 57-foot wide, five-blade main rotor with a three-blade on the tail. Its top speed is over 200 MPH with a 280 mile range. Early models had the pilot and weapons operator sitting in tandem under a single piece of bulletproof glass; later upgrades introduced the now iconic "double bubble" canopy. The HIND is heavily fortified against small and medium arms fire, able to shrug off .50 caliber shots—even to its rotor blades—and withstand 20-mm cannon hits thanks to ballistic-resistant windscreens and a titanium-wrapped cockpit tub. What's more, the cabin interior is over-pressurized in the event of a NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) attack. This heavy armor earned the Mi-24 the unofficial nickname "the flying tank" though many Soviet pilots also referred to it as the "Crocodile" thanks to its camouflage pattern.

The Mi-24 didn't just fly around taking it on the nose mind you—this is a proper assault chopper. It relies on a 1,470-round 12.7 mm Gatling gun, a pair of twin-barrel GSh-30K autocannons, and window-mounted machine guns in the cabin. The Hind is also outfitted with a pair of stub wings that not only provide up to a quarter of the aircraft's lift when travelling at speed but also provide three attachment points for a variety of external weapons, depending on whether the mission calls for air support, troop insertions, anti-tank operations, or aerial combat. These external stores can include 3M11 Falanga anti-tank missiles, various general-purpose bombs (up to 500kg in weight) and rockets.

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Top 3 Coolest Laser-Based Weapon Systems

Military uses of lasers include applications such as target designation and ranging, defensive countermeasures, communications and directed energy weapons. Directed energy weapons are being developed, such as Boeing's Airborne Laser which was constructed inside a Boeing 747. Designated the YAL-1, it is intended to kill short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their boost phase.

LaWS

The Laser Weapon System or LaWS is a directed-energy weapon developed by the United States Navy. The weapon is to be installed on the USS Ponce for field testing in late 2013 or early 2014. The intended use of the LaWS is ship-defense against drones or small-boat attackers (whether suicidal or not); the LaWS at present is not designed to engage incoming missiles, large aircraft, ships, or submerged objects. LaWS utilizes a solid-state infrared beam which can be tuned to high output to destroy the target or low output to warn or cripple the sensors of a target.

Boeing YAL-1

The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed, (formerly Airborne Laser) weapons system is a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified Boeing 747-400F. The ABL was designed for use against tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs). These have a shorter range and fly more slowly than ICBMs. The MDA has recently suggested the ABL might be used against ICBMs during their boost phase. This could require much longer flights to get in position, and might not be possible without flying over hostile territory. Liquid-fueled ICBMs, which have thinner skins, and remain in boost phase longer than TBMs, might be easier to destroy.

Boeing Laser Avenger

Boeing Laser Avenger is an infrared laser system (with power levels somewhere in the tens of kilowatts range) mounted on an AN/TWQ-1 Avenger combat vehicle developed by Boeing Combat Systems in Huntsville, Alabama. Laser Avenger integrates a directed energy weapon together with the kinetic weapons of the Avenger air defense system. Boeing successfully tested a 1 kW solid state laser weapon mounted on a converted Avenger anti aircraft vehicle in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The laser successfully destroyed several unexploded mortar shells from a safe distance and was also able to destroy two unmanned aerial vehicles (which were on the ground).

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Russia’s Reinventing Its Most Iconic Weapon For The 21st Century

The Kalashnikov is one of the most well-known and widely used weapons in history. More than 75 million of the Russian assault rifles have been produced since it entered service in 1949. And while AKs are renowned for their simplicity and durability, the 64 year old line is long overdue for a design update. But can modern materials and production techniques really build a better AK?

The new platform model is designated the Kalashnikov AK-12 (“Avtomat Kalashnikova, 2012″) and is produced in the famed Izhmash factory, which was formed by decree of Tsar Alexander I in 1807 and produced the original line of Kalashnikovs. Russian authorities plan to phase out the existing AK-74M and AK-100 lines in favour of the AK-12, should it pass acceptance testing later this year. Development on the AK-12 began prior to 2010, but it wasn’t until May of that year that the Russian Defence Ministry announced the existence of the project and that initial testing would begin in 2011. Political wrangling — and questions of what to do with the massive surplus of perfectly good AK-74 rifles — delayed trials until the end of 2012, whereupon the results of the tests revealed “range of defects” on the prototypes. Luckily, engineers at the the Izhmash corporation were confident they could fix all of the rifle’s issues and are currently working to do so ahead of acceptance trials and the expected series production launch at the end of the year.
“In the interests of the Defence Ministry, Izhmash is working on the modernisation of the AK-74 (shown below) and AK-100 assault rifles in service with the Russian army, as well as developing a [new] standard assault rifle on the AK-12 platform which will undergo state acceptance trials in June 2013,” Vladimir Zlobin, Izhmash’s chief designer, told Defence Talk Monday.

The new AK-12 will feature nearly two dozen design improvements over its predecessor while retaining the rifle’s versatility and reliability. It will be available to military forces in both light and heavy versions. The Light variant will be able to fire 5.45×39, 5.56×45, 6.5 Grendel and 7.62×39 rounds while the Heavy version will shoot 7.62×51 NATO rounds. Both variants will feature three select-firing modes similar to the American M-16 — single shot, three round burst, full auto — rather than the AK’s binary semi- or full-auto options. What’s more, the old right-handed fire-select switch has been replaced with an ambidextrous selector lever. The magazine release, ejector port and cocking handle can all be adapted for righties or lefties alike.
The muzzle has also been redesigned to fire 22mm NATO-standard barrel-mounted grenades rather than the 40 mm GP-25 grenades utilized by the AK-47. In addition, improved rifling has reportedly improved the new model’s accuracy from the older’s rating of “good enough”. A new Picatinny rail for mounting optical and IR sights, target indicators, and other equipment has also been added. The Ministry of Defence is reportedly also looking into developing carbine, compact carbine, submachine gun, and sniper rifle variants as well.
Russian civilians are even getting a .223 Remington semi-automatic model of their own by year’s end.

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