Patterns of dealing with the Islamists

Russia will supply attack helicopters Mi-35М to Pakistan

On the eve of the opening of the MAKS-2015 salon, Rosoboronexport signed a contract for the supply of four Mi-35 attack helicopters to the armed forces of Pakistan. According to a military diplomatic source, rotorcraft are designed for counter-terrorist operations.

From the 1945 year to the present, numerous wars and armed conflicts have had a significant impact on the formation of the market for helicopters, which today play an important role in the fight against terrorist organizations. To ensure the fighting required the aircraft, capable of promptly redeploy military units and equipment, as well as provide direct support to the landing force on the battlefield.

In the old park ...

The first helicopters designed to carry out these tasks took part in the Korean 1950 – 1953 war. One of the symbols of American aggression in Vietnam was UH-1 “Huey”. These machines were used against the partisans and showed themselves well in difficult climatic conditions. Subsequently, the role of helicopters in conflicts where fighting was conducted against the rebels, only increased.

In South Asia, one of the countries that is constantly faced with the need to use helicopters in the conduct of counter-terrorism actions is Pakistan.

However helicopter combat park aviation Pakistan is limited. Currently, the army aviation has 35 AH-1F “Cobra” aircraft, which are distributed between the three squadrons of the 404th aviation group.

The modernized "Cobra" is already poorly suited to perform modern tasks. In addition to the limited payload, the range of weapons that the AH-1F can use is extremely limited and consists of the M20 197-mm automatic gun, the 70-mm Hydra (Hydra) automatic missile and the TOW ATGM (TOW). One of the major drawbacks of AH-1F in the conduct of counter-terrorist actions is the relatively weak booking, which provides effective protection only from bullets of caliber 7,62 caliber.

Mi - product face

Already by the 2010 – 2011 years, the Pakistani armed forces were faced with the question of replacing the AH-1F used in counter-terrorism operations, as their effectiveness began to decline. Initially, several options were considered for acquisition: AH-64D / E Apache Longbow / Guardian (Apache Longbow / Guardian) of Boeing Corporation (Boeing), AH-1Z Viper (Viper) of the American Bell Helicopter ), T-129 “Attack” (ATAK) of Turkish “Terkish Aerospace Industries” (TAI - Turkish Aerospace Industries), Z-10 of Chinese “Chenhe Aircraft Industries Corporation” (CAIC - Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation), Mi-35M holding holding company, Mi-XNUMXM holding holding holding company (MIC), Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation, Mi-XNUMXM holding holding company (IIC Holding Company) Of Russia. "

However, later Pakistan faced significant problems when trying to get contracts for the purchase of new combat helicopters. The United States for several reasons (including political) refused to supply AH-64D / E and AH-1Z. Turkey is having trouble developing T-129. Thus, the focus was on the products of Russian and Chinese helicopter builders. In the autumn of 2014, it became aware of the consultations between Russia and Pakistan on the Mi-35M combat helicopters.

The head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, in particular, announced the lifting of the Russian embargo on the export of weapons and military equipment to Pakistan and negotiations on the sale of a batch of helicopters to this country. Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that this was about the delivery of Mi-35, since Pakistan has a fleet of Mi-17 vehicles previously transferred to it by the United States as an aid in the fight against militants.

For a number of parameters, the Mi-35M compares favorably with competitors. The design of the helicopter, capable of transporting reconnaissance and sabotage group and support it with fire, was tested during the Soviet period in the Afghan war. Then the Mi-24 and its modifications successfully carried out anti-insurgent missions. The Mi-35M is distinguished by a wide range of weapons used, which include universal cannon containers UPK-23 (with 23-mm guns GSH-23L), NAR units of the C-8 or C-13 type of a millimeter caliber 80 and 122, respectively, anti-tank missile complexes, respectively Sturm-B or Attack. The use of night vision goggles OVN-1 "bevel" allows you to confidently fly a helicopter in the dark. Reservations protects against bullets caliber 7,62 – 12,7 millimeter. Thus, the Mi-35M will significantly enhance the capabilities of Pakistan's army aviation to fight the Islamists.

At the same time, the experience of operating the Mi-24 in Afghanistan clearly showed that booking helicopters of this type does not provide adequate protection against rebel air defense systems. The cockpit and the vital components of the attack helicopter must be protected from the impact of large-caliber bullets, and therefore the Pakistan Defense Ministry also showed interest in the Russian Night Helicopter Mi-28HE.

We must take!

The Pakistani side is taking concrete steps to acquire Russian helicopter technology for use in counterterrorism operations. Speaking on Radio Pakistan in November 2014, Russian Ambassador Alexei Dedov announced from a political point of view that the sale of Mi-35M helicopters to Pakistan. Their exact number, which is discussed during the negotiations, the diplomat did not name.

One of the official representatives of Islamabad, commenting on the statement of the Russian ambassador, said that it was about the possibility of acquiring up to 20 machines. It is assumed that the ground forces of Pakistan have chosen Russian helicopters because of the already gained positive experience of their use, in particular the Mi-8 / 17.

Islamabad is interested in acquiring new Mi-28HE. At the beginning of December 2014 of the year at the 8 International Armaments Exhibition in Karachi, IDEAS 2014 (8th International Defense Exhibition and Seminar), the Russian delegation held special technical presentations Mi-28НЭ for the Ministry of Defense of Pakistan. According to the results of IDEAS 2014, the Minister of Defense Industry of the country Rana Tanvir Hussein confirmed that negotiations were underway on the acquisition of an unspecified number of Mi-28HE drums. During the exhibition, one of the sources said that Russia had offered Pakistan four Mi-28HEs in order to support a possible deal to sell the Mi-35M. “These helicopters can be transferred to Pakistan as part of Russia's support for Islamabad’s anti-terrorist actions,” the source informed then.

Deliveries of the Russian helicopter technology will significantly strengthen the combat potential of the country's army aviation. Despite approval by the US State Department of selling 15 AH-1Z to Pakistan, the firm contract is not currently signed. And the option of supplying Pakistan with American AH-64D / E is currently not even being considered.

Thus, it is Russian Mi-35М and Mi-28НЭ helicopters that are the best choice for Islamabad. The successful operation of the Night Hunter in Iraq has shown its ability to perform combat missions in hot and dry climatic conditions. Mi-24, on the basis of which Mi-35M was created, became a symbol of the Afghan war and showed itself in it from the positive side. Both helicopters can carry weapons that are at least as good as those installed on the AH-1Z.

The Soviet / Russian NAR C-8 and C-13 have repeatedly proved their advantage over the unguided version of the American Hydra missile, in particular in terms of the effectiveness of the impact of a high-explosive fragmentation warhead. The use of ATGM will allow the destruction of fortified firing points and the infrastructure of the rebels. Both helicopters are equipped with effective gun armament - 23-mm GSH-23L and 30-mm 2A42, respectively.

Experts believe that the acquisition by Islamabad of the Russian military helicopter technology will significantly complicate the actions of Islamist terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Comments

[Magic archer]

I read as if the Crocodile is the only helicopter in the world that shot down a plane in battle! AST Publishing House !!!

[aiden]

quite possible. we even shot down a flying plane from a tank :)

[crazyrom]

UH-1 Huey

In general, this title can be read a little differently.

[Civil]

Since the days of Afghanistan, I have been treating packs with hatred and suspicion.

[gjv]

Quote: Magic Archer

I read as if the Crocodile is the only helicopter in the world that shot down a plane in battle!

A special page of the combat use of the Mi-24, of course, was his victory over supersonic fighter jets.
The first such victory took place on June 8, 1982 in the Bekaa Valley over Lebanon. The Syrian colonel-ace, piloting the newest Mi-24V, with R-60MK missiles attacked a convoy of Israeli armored vehicles and personally destroyed 5 ATGM and NAR tanks, an armored personnel carrier and a mobile air defense system. The Israelis called in a couple of fighters for help, and one of them, the Phantom, (although the witnesses - Soviet military experts who examined the wreckage, concluded that this was one of three downed American F-14 Tomket with "freshly painted Stars of David") entering the attack on the Mi-1,4V at a speed of M24, he betrayed himself by the radiation of a radar. The helicopter turned in bearing and fired 2x R-60MK from a distance of more than 8 km into the front hemisphere, the first of which inflicted fatal damage on the fighter, and the second turned an Israeli fighter with medium-range Sparrow (or Phoenix) missiles into a cloud of blazing debris.

[gjv]

Quote: Magic Archer

I read as if the Crocodile is the only helicopter in the world that shot down a plane in battle!

The second victory was won during the Iran-Iraq conflict, on October 27, 1984, north of the village of Ein Khosh. As with the Syrian helicopter, the Iraqi Air Force helicopter was attacked by the Phantom, a third generation supersonic fighter. However, the Israeli aircraft carried the weapons of an interceptor, and all the air-to-air weapons of the Iranian Phantom consisted of only four Sparrow - the Iranian aircraft carried Shrike missiles to destroy air defense radars and containers with reconnaissance equipment to determine the parameters of Iraqi radars ... Noticing the Iraqi Mi-24D, the fighter pilot decided to shoot down the helicopter, but the latter was flying at low altitude and the Sparrow lost its target. But the gambling Iranian pilot decided to use the Vulcan cannon and sent his car towards the Iraqi helicopter. The Iraqi pilot was not taken aback and fired 3,5 NAR C-32 from a distance of 5 km - eight out of four blocks. 32 missiles rushed towards the Phantom in a “spot” with a diameter of 150 meters at a speed of M2. The Iranian fighter tried to turn it away, and at that moment the missile hit it in the rear of the fuselage. The fuel instantly detonated and the Phantom turned into a shapeless ball of fire.

[gjv]

Quote: Magic Archer

I read as if the Crocodile is the only helicopter in the world that shot down a plane in battle!

As a matter of fact, these facts indicate the low vulnerability of helicopters during low-altitude flight for the enemy’s airborne explosives, especially with the Strategic Missile Forces; and vice versa, about the wide possibilities of helicopters with IR RVV for use against multi-role fighters. True, in the practice of using the Mi-24 there was another case of the victory of the Nicaraguan Mi-24D over a jet fighter, although it could be more likely to be called the destruction of antiques - the 9-M17 ATGM was shot down by the F-86 Saber, an aircraft used back in 1953 in the Korean conflict . However, the Saber carried 2 Sidewinders, but probably modifications B or P, and the fighter could not use the rockets against the helicopter, firing it with six 12,7mm machine guns at a low angle of view, therefore the bullets did little damage to the rotorcraft. The Saber, having fired, overtook 24ku and was shot down by it when trying to deploy the Phalanx missile.

[gjv]

Quote: Magic Archer

I read as if the Crocodile is the only helicopter in the world that shot down a plane in battle!

No less interesting are the victories of 24ok over attack aircraft. In the sky over Nicaragua, a 12,7mm machine gun was shot down by a light attack aircraft manufactured by the United States A-37 Dragonfly. As a matter of fact, the entire armor of this attack aircraft consisted of 4mm steel plates covering the engine and the cabin. Such armor could protect only from the fire of machine guns of 7,62 caliber. Pilots were also protected by nylon multilayer armor. And the small arms of the attack aircraft were weak - the 6-barrel 7,62mm Minigun machine gun. Naturally, when the Mi-1984D and A-24s came together in an artillery battle in October 37, 12,7mm YakB bullets pierced the engines of the Honduran Air Force attack aircraft as paper.

[gjv]

Quote: Magic Archer

I read as if the Crocodile is the only helicopter in the world that shot down a plane in battle!

During a peacekeeping operation in Abkhazia in the fall of 1992, the Russian Mi-24VP shot down a Georgian attack aircraft Su-9 with a 114M2M25 Sturm rocket. Despite the legendary survivability of the Soviet machine, 20mm titanium armor did not save the attack aircraft, - the cumulative ATGM detonation caused a detonation of 500kg of the bomb ...
Speaking of attack aircraft, we again have to return to Iraq. As you know, after the “Desert Storm” in the north of Iraq, a restricted area was established for Iraqi aviation to prevent Baghdad from fighting the Kurds. However, in the spring of 1993, Iraqi tanks launched an offensive against the separatists. Feeling complete impunity, the US military sent two A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, the purpose of which was Iraqi tanks. Having destroyed two units of Iraqi armored vehicles, the Thunderbolts went closer together in order to attack the tanks with quick-firing guns, but the Mi-24 appeared from the fold of the terrain, escorting the convoy. On a jet of hot gases washed out by dual-circuit engines, 24ka captured and launched the R-60MK from a distance of 4km into the front hemisphere. The rocket exploded with extraordinary precision inside the left engine, literally cutting the right PE ring of the core warhead. The attack aircraft literally crashed to the ground, but did not explode. The pilot died. The pilot of the second A-10 made an unsuccessful launch of two AIM-9L, which went to the signal of the IR-jammer Mi-24V, in turn, the second R-60 went to the Thunderbolt trap, but the latter preferred to leave the battlefield.
The Mi-24 also has the downed An-12 medium transport aircraft. Even before the start of the first Chechen war in the summer of 1994, the Mi-24V of the so-called “Provisional Council” of Chechnya - the anti-Dudaev opposition (in fact, it was one of the four helicopters of the “peacekeeping forces” of R. Khasbulatov, piloted by a Russian pilot) shot down on a catch-up course (not despite the fact that the transport was at a speed of about 800 km / h at an altitude of 3 km and was armed with a rear defensive 23mm cannon) the R-63 missile, which hit one of the four “Cuba” theaters and destroyed the wing. As it turned out, the 60-ton An-12 transported weapons from Azerbaijan (including 12 ATGMs and 8 MANPADS) for the Dudayevites, as well as a solid batch of dollars for “independent Chechnya” (Nobody knows how many dollars there were - the same Chechens served with Avturkhanov and Khasbulatov, and they "took the bucks into their pockets from the wreckage").

[aviator65]

Quote: gjv

shot down on a catch-up course (despite the fact that the transporter walked at a speed of about 800 km / h at an altitude of 3 km

An-12 at a speed of 800 km / h at 3 km? !! ... However! ...

[avia1991]

the acquisition by Islamabad of Russian military helicopter equipment will significantly complicate the actions of Islamist terrorist groups,

Lord, what kind of "convincing" arguments they can't come up with to justify the sale of our equipment! And most importantly, the conclusion:

Thus, it is the Russian Mi-35M and Mi-28NE helicopters that are the best choice for Islamabad.

It’s just a shame that this is not because of the Pakistani super-interest, but because there are NO, practically, other options.
PS Mi-24 - a great car! .. for YOUR time.

[Igor K]

The position of mattress workers on the supply of effective weapons to Iraq and Pakistan for combating the bearded is very interesting.
Deliveries to Iraq were stopped when a turning point came, the F-16 was not delivered, Pakistan and Egypt were not delivered either, but they were very worried about the wards from ISIS.

[Rustam]

Really?

- actually, that month the first F-16s arrived in Iraq, as well as a consignment of Abrams, small arms, Bell helicopters and armored vehicles, etc.

-to deliveries to Pakistan, modern F-16s and MI-17 are purchased from us with American money

- arms from the USA also resumed in Egypt; in July new F-16s came 52

so do not sing war songs!

[Ivan Ivanych]

Pakistanis know our technique in battle. They checked it on themselves. It's good that the world is changing in the right direction

[dakka-dakka]

instead of a bunch of words

[0255]

Quote: dakka-dakka

instead of a bunch of words

What is this picture for? On the Ukrainian Mi-24 or the best in the world AH-64 "Apache" MANPADS were not guided?

[Mayday1981]

The second time I come to Pakistan, I work for 399 at the airbase in Rawalpindi, just here the Mi-17 / Mi-171 are based. They fly a lot, the operating conditions are harsh. The guys work well, nothing bad can be said, they help in the work, they are adequate polite.
Often referred to as the Mi-35, both officers and privates are very much waiting.
The operation of the Mi-17 abroad, from 10 million dollars and higher during the life cycle, brings our country a very large income. This does not include the cost of a new helicopter from 15 million dollars. These are salaries, taxes, real money starting from suppliers of spare parts ending with Ruslanov crews who transport helicopters for overhaul in the Russian Federation and vice versa.
The cost of the Mi-35 if I am not mistaken from 30 million dollars. The cost of the life cycle is correspondingly higher. And if half of the Mi-17 are repaired right there at the 503 air base, then the Mi-35 will be repaired only in the Russian Federation.

[Mayday1981]

The next batch (3 Mi-171, 1 Mi-17) will fly tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to Benazir-Bhutto airport, where, according to the plan, it should be loaded into Ruslan on September 4 for delivery to the Russian Federation for major overhaul. sort of like 4 million dollars.
A lot of money comes from staff training and even living in our country.
As for the characteristics of the Mi-17, the helicopter fits very well for the conditions of Pakistan.

[Sling]

Thanks for the info, so to speak, "from the inside".

[shelva]

Selling weapons to Pakistan, we kind of level their eternal enmity with India, which we also sell weapons to. It would be nice to finally push the Americans out of this region and switch to mutual settlements in national currencies.

[kirgudu]

Mi-24 in Afghanistan fought with the rebels ???
Maybe with well-trained mercenaries at the CIA bases?

[aviator65]

Quote: kirgudu

Mi-24 in Afghanistan fought with the rebels ???
Maybe with well-trained mercenaries at the CIA bases?

Actually with those and with others.