5. Russia’s Mil Mi-24
Maker: Moscow Helicopter Plant, Mil
Main Users: Air Force of Russia
Cost of the Program: $1.953 billion*
Cost per unit: $15–16 million*
The Mil MI-24, known by its NATO reporting name “Hind,” is partially modeled after American gunships and helicopters from the Vietnam War. Most of these gunships and helicopters were produced by Vought, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. The Hind was designed by Mikhail Mil.
©J_K/Shutterstock Mi-35P
When Mil first presented the proposal to senior Soviet officials, they were initially against it. At last, he managed to convince Soviet Marshal Andrey A. Grechko to convene a panel discussing the necessity of ground support from armed helicopters. The MI-24 project was funded by the Soviet Union as a result of Grechko and Mil’s panel.
The “Mi-24” is also known as the “flying tank” (летaющиѹ танк), a term that was originally applied to Soviet ground-attack planes in World War II. Because of the color scheme and the flat glass panels encircling the older Mi-24 cockpits, the Russians also dubbed their blueprints “Stakan,” or “Drinking Glass,” and “Galina,” or Crocodile.
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