Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the world was shaken by dozens of local military conflicts, the participants of which fought mercilessly in the mountains, deserts, forests and swamps, as well as on tropical islands covered with impenetrable jungle.
The use of tanks and bomber aircraft in such wars turned out to be completely ineffective and extremely expensive. And then attack helicopters came to the aid of the fighters. They could take off and land on almost any horizontal platform of limited volume, and the power of their fiery strike was sufficient to destroy any defensive structure, armored vehicles or accumulation of enemy troops.
Thanks to the use of state-of-the-art navigation and radar equipment, the crews of attack helicopters are perfectly oriented in space even in absolute darkness. And modern thermal imagers allow you to detect and destroy the enemy hiding in the folds of rugged terrain.
Today we will tell you about the most common attack helicopters in the world, without the participation of which no military conflict can do.
Mi-24. The most common
The Soviet Mi-24, which made its first flight back in 1970, is still used by the armies of more than 60 countries and is the most widespread helicopter in the world.
For its excellent maneuverability, American military experts named this helicopter "Doe", and for its predatory appearance - "Crocodile". It was the second name that stuck most firmly to the Mi-24, gradually moving to other Russian attack helicopters, including the modern Mi-35.
The uniqueness of the Mi-24, of which more than 3, 5 thousand units were produced, is their amazing reliability and maintainability. During the war in Afghanistan (1979-1989), Soviet pilots repeatedly managed to land wrecked helicopters on miniature platforms, repair them on their own, and return to base.
If necessary, the Mi-24 is armed with built-in and suspended small arms and cannon armament, guided and unguided air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, bombs and cassettes.
One sight of the Crocodile, bristling with rockets and cannon-machine-gun barrels, causes genuine horror in any enemy, and the speed of its flight allows the Mi-24 to appear on the battlefield practically out of nowhere.
Mi-24 is the fastest helicopter in the world. In 1978, test pilot Gurgen Karapetyan set an absolute speed record for helicopters, accelerating the Mi-24 to an incredible 368.4 km / h.
To date, about four dozen different modifications of the Mi-24 helicopter have been produced, including 6 export versions that were handed over to the armies of states friendly to the USSR / Russia. Crocodile is a highly demanded product on the arms market, and its export modifications under the Mi-35 designation fly on all continents, including North America.
McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache. Universal American
The American AH-64 Apache helicopter, which deservedly occupies the second line of our rating, is a very serious opponent for the Russian Crocodile. Its latest modification, Block III, is equipped with an ultra-modern flight control system, powerful engines and blades made of composite materials, which significantly increased the weight of the combat load.
Thanks to the use of the GPRS navigation system, the American "Indian" is perfectly oriented on the terrain, detecting even the most camouflaged objects. The crew of one Block III has the ability to fly reconnaissance and strike drones, capable of creating a real air squadron, unleashing a barrage of fire at enemy positions.
Since the mid-80s of the last century, more than 2 thousand Apaches have been produced in various configurations. They are used by the armies of 15 countries of the world and have become the main attack helicopters of the NATO bloc.
Typically, the AH-64 Apache is equipped with a 30mm automatic cannon, Stinger missile systems for aerial combat, as well as Hellfire anti-tank missiles, unguided 70mm rockets and heavy machine guns.
During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the AH-64D modification was used as a command helicopter and successfully coordinated the interaction between ground units and mobile air groups.
Kawasaki OH-1 Ninja. The lightest Japanese
This reconnaissance and attack helicopter of the Japanese Air Force has the highest mobility, for which it received the characteristic name "Ninja". Thanks to the widespread use of composite materials, the designers managed to reduce the weight of this combat vehicle to 2.4 tons.
Launched in series in 1998, the Kawasaki OH-1 Ninja is 13.4 meters long and its fuselage barely more than 1 meter wide, making the Ninja a very difficult target to hit.
The helicopter can reach speeds of up to 277 km / h. It has no built-in armament at all, but four special suspensions allow you to attach to the helicopter sets of conventional or cluster mines, automatic cannons, large-caliber machine guns and anti-tank missile systems. True, the combat load of the OH-1 Ninja cannot exceed 130 kg.
In total, about 100 units of these helicopters were produced, which are equipped with a color television observation system, a laser rangefinder and a powerful thermal imager capable of distinguishing living objects at ultra-long distances.
Ka-52 "Alligator". Unkillable Russian
About this combat vehicle, which has become a continuation of the development of the legendary "Black Shark" Ka-50, we can talk endlessly. Suffice it to mention that since 1997, when the first prototype of the Ka-52 flew into the air, none of the more than 200 released combat vehicles crashed and was not shot down by the enemy.
Ka-52 "Alligator" and its naval modification Ka-52K "Katran" with shortened and folding propellers are the only helicopters in the world in which an emergency ejection system for crew members is installed.
Thanks to the duplicated control system, each of their crew members can perform the functions of the main pilot, which is very convenient during training sessions and in a combat situation.
Since 2016, several Alligators have served at the Syrian military base Khmeimim, periodically inflicting fire strikes on terrorist positions, their military equipment and concentrations of manpower.
In addition to the standard types of weapons installed on the Mi-24 and Mi-35, the Alligator and Katran are armed with the domestic Vikhr anti-tank missiles. They hit targets at a speed of 610 meters per second, covering a four-kilometer distance one and a half times faster than the American Hellfire ATGM (9 seconds versus 15).
During a single combat call, the Ka-52 easily destroys several ground targets, and the strong armor makes this helicopter practically invulnerable.
Eurocopter Tiger. Super hardy european
The joint project of the Franco-German consortium Eurocopter entered service only in 2003 and today is the most durable helicopter in the world.
It is 4/5 made of composite materials, capable of speeds up to 278 km / h and cover up to 800 kilometers without landing. The fuselage of the European "Tiger" has several layers of Kevlar, which acts as an impenetrable armor and an absorber of radar signals, which makes the combat vehicle practically invisible to radars.
Experimental tests have shown that the Eurocopter Tiger, which has a mass of no more than 3 tons, can easily withstand a direct hit from one 23-mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile and continues to perform a combat mission.
This combat vehicle is armed with a standard 30-millimeter cannon, and external suspension points allow for strengthening guided and unguided rockets, as well as cluster bomb loading.
The European "Tiger" is already in service with the armies of Germany, France, Spain and Australia, and representatives of Eurocopter are actively promoting their offspring on the world arms market, giving preference to the armies of NATO countries.
