Mil Mi-8 (NATO code: Hip) was and remains a Soviet-made multipurpose helicopter with an all-metal half-body design, with a fixed undercarriage, in a classic layout with a main rotor and a tail rotor on a beam. . The drive was provided by two Klymov-TV-2-117 turboshaft engines with a capacity of 1,500 horsepower each. The flight of the first prototype took place in July 1961, and serial production began shortly after and continues to this day. To date, more than 17,000 copies of this very successful and popular helicopter have been produced worldwide! Many upgrades to the base version have been created. The first assault versions were the Mi-8TV and Mi-8TP helicopters, which could be armed with machine guns and unguided missiles. Later, the Mi-24 attack helicopter developed from these versions. Since 1981, new engines were installed on the Mi-8, thus changing the designation to the Mi-17. Currently (2017), the designation of all machines of the Mi-8 / Mi-17 family has been unified in the Russian Federation until "Mi-8". The highly successful Mi-8 was very widely exported to the Warsaw Pact countries, as well as to many other countries around the world, such as India, Iraq and Turkey. Mi-8 helicopters participated in numerous armed conflicts, including the war in Afghanistan (1979-1989). The Mil Mi-17 (NATO code: Hip) was a Soviet, and now Russian, all-metal multi-role helicopter with a fixed triple-prop landing gear of the classic main rotor and beam tail design. . The drive - in the Mi-17 1A-2 version - is provided by two Klimov VK-2500PS-03 engines with a capacity of 2400 km each. The flight of the first prototype took place in 1975, and serial production began two years later and continues (under the designation Mi-8MT). The machine is 18.47 meters long with a rotor diameter of 21.25 meters. The Mil Mi-17 was developed and put into production as a far-reaching development of the Mi-8 helicopter. Externally, it is very similar to it and was originally designated as Mi-8MT, but since 1981, the designation Mi-17 has been used. The Mi-17 helicopter differs from the Mi-8 mainly by moving the propeller on the tail beam from right to left and using a completely new power plant with a higher maximum power, which positively affected the characteristics of the machine. Changes also affected the main rotor, chassis and transmission. Many versions of this highly successful helicopter went into production, including the Mi-17 (basic version), the Mi-17P (electronic warfare version) and the Mi-17-BA (flying hospital version). The Mi-17 machine was exported to many countries of the world, including: Algeria, Cuba and Egypt.
