The Hind has been sold to 40 countries and, no it’s not a joke, the photos in this post feature a Mi-24 attack helicopter in US Coast Guard colors.
The Mi-24 (NATO reporting name: Hind) attack / transport helicopter was developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters.
The development of the aircraft commenced in the first half of the 1960s using a dynamical set, drive units and other components from the Mi-8 helicopter. The first prototype, with late TV2-117 engines, took off in September 1969.
It entered service with the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and since then more than 3,500 Mi-24 helicopters have been produced and it has been used in more than 40 wars and conflicts including Afghanistan and in Chechnya.
The Hind has been sold to 40 countries and, no it’s not a joke, the photos in this post feature a Mi-24V (NATO reporting name: Hind-E) attack helicopter in US Coast Guard (USCG) colors.
The Hind in fact was painted in USCG colors to play the role of an American Search and Rescue (or maybe Search and Destroy) helicopter in the Russian movie “Charged with Death” (original title Zarjazhennye smertyu).
Loaded with Death is a 1991 (filmed 1990) action movie directed by Vladimir Plotnikov. A group of escaped criminals hijacks a Russian fishing vessel “Udachlivy” (“Lucky”) in the waters of North Pacific. A Soviet Border Guard patrol ship “Yuri Andropov” and US Coast Guard helicopter make a joint operation to release the vessel. What neither criminals, nor border guards know is that the fisherman is loaded with smuggled drugs, and the American drug lord goes on his fast boat to get the drugs from “Udachlivy”.
The Mi-24V appears as a USCG helicopter (most likely used due to play the role of the then newly introduced Sikorsky MH-60 Jayhawk). It is piloted by Jerry Ranklin (Vladimir Antonik) and Ray (Anatoly Vedyonkin).
Still, the Hind looks cool in its Coastie colors, don’t you think?
