Mil Mi-24



"A Hind D...?"

- Solid Snake

"Who else could shoot down two F-16s with a Hind?"

- Revolver Ocelot to Solid Snake, referring to Liquid Snake's feat of using a Hind D during the Shadow Moses Incident.

Mi-24 Hinds are Russian attack and transport helicopters used by many state militaries and mercenary forces worldwide.

Background
The Mil-series of helicopters stem from the design bureau of Mikhail Mil. Nearly all Soviet-era helicopters are from the Mil design bureau, except for the Kamov helicopters. The Mi-24 was the first purpose-built helicopter gunship in the Soviet military forces. Unlike the slimmer US-made AH-1G Cobra, however, the Mi-24 was not designed solely as such; the Hind was larger due to a 6-to-8 man troop compartment in the main body, as it was meant both as troop transport and attack helicopter. The Hind has four main wing hardpoints along with two on the wingtips; a typical load consists of four large unguided rocket pods and a pair of wingtip double launch rails, each with two guided anti-tank missiles. NATO designated the production "Hind A", the pre-production "Hind B", and the unarmed trainer models "Hind C."

The Mi-24D, or Hind D, has a new cockpit design. The earlier Mi-24s had a squat, polygonal side-by-side cockpit, but its extensive glazing provided poor crew protection. The Hind D cockpit, apart from the use of thick armor-glass canopies, adopted the 'tandem' in-line configuration similar to US attack helicopters. The Mi-24D has two cockpit 'bubbles', with the pilot in the upper bubble and the gunner in the lower one, separate from each other. This also gives the Hind D access to either a 12.7mm or 23mm cannon, mounted under the chin of the Gunner's bubble. All existing Hind A, B, and C designs have since been superseded by the D or the later Mi-24V Hind E design.

All Hind helicopters pack armored cockpits for pilot and gunner, later models capable of absorbing anything up to 20mm cannon hits and thus offering protection from all but the heaviest anti-aircraft weapons.

History
During 1964's Virtuous Mission, early production Hind A helicopters (identified by their greenhouse-style canopies) were used by Colonel Volgin to transport the Shagohod from Nikolai Stephanovich Sokolov's design bureau to Groznyj Grad. After The Boss had defected and launched Naked Snake over the Dolinovodno Bridge, a Hind A transported The Boss and her Cobra Unit to Groznyj Grad while another Hind A transported Ocelot, Volgin, and a woman.

A week later during Operation Snake Eater, Hind As were also used to patrol the mountaintops, in addition to being used to transport Volgin's GRU troops. The Hinds were developed by Colonel Volgin at Groznyj Grad using the Philosopher's Legacy. Later, Snake encountered the helicopter while in the mountains while on the way to Groznyj Grad, which was sent by Volgin to patrol the area and send additional manpower in order to ensure that Snake doesn't arrive at Groznyj Grad. A Hind A was also used to transport GRU reinforcements to Groznyj Grad when Snake and EVA were escaping on motorcycle, but was subsequently destroyed by Volgin's Shagohod. These gunships were presumably being used for field tests. In addition, Naked Snake initially thought the Hind was the escape craft that EVA prepared, although she stated it wasn't, citing that its range was not enough to escape both Tselinoyarsk and the Soviet Union.

It was during Operation Snake Eater that this Russian gunship, and its later models, was first named the Hind by Naked Snake, Sigint and Major Zero.

During 1970's San Hieronymo Takeover, several Hind A helicopters were deployed during the FOX unit's rebellion on the San Hieronymo Peninsula. Several Hind As were used in their "theft" of the Intercontinental Ballistic Metal Gear. One gunship was used by Gene, Cunningham, and Ursula, to search the peninsula for Big Boss (Naked Snake) and Roy Campbell, who had earlier escaped from their custody.

A squadron of Hind As were later deployed to the peninsula's assembly plant, where FOX soldiers attempted to stop Snake and his resistance forces from sabotaging the prototype Metal Gear RAXA. Three Hind As carried away the ICBMG from the plant, having prepared it for transportation while Snake was distracted by RAXA, with Gene following on board another.

During 1974's Peace Walker Incident, Hind helicopters of both varieties were involved in the Peace Sentinels' invasion of Costa Rica. CIA Station Chief Hot Coldman boarded a Hind D while the Chrysalis AI weapon airlifted Peace Walker's frame from Mt. Irazu to a secret mining facility. While traveling to the AI facility in the Costa Rican jungle of Central Heredia, Naked Snake (Big Boss) and the Militaires Sans Frontieres were forced to neutralize a Hind A. After Big Boss failed to dismantle the Mammal Pod at the AI Lab, the Hind D airlifted the Mammal Pod from the AI Lab to the Mine Base while Big Boss was regaining consciousness.

Coldman, along with Paz Ortega Andrade and Strangelove, later traveled on board the Hind D while accompanying the all-terrain Peace Walker AI weapon to a U.S. missile base in Nicaragua. During his infiltration of the base's communications tower, the Hind D ambushed Snake, forcing him to fight it head on, along with Soviet infantrymen. All of the Peace Sentinels' Hinds were supplied by allied Soviet forces, led by KGB operative Vladimir Alexandrovich Zadornov. Throughout their mission, the Militaires Sans Frontieres also managed to procure some Hind Ds and other war vehicles.

During 1995's Outer Heaven Uprising, Solid Snake was attacked by Hind-D helicopter shortly before parachuting from the rooftop onto the courtyard of Outer Heaven. The Hind had next to no movement besides the gunner's machine gun. Snake was able to easily destroy the Hind by using a M79 grenade launcher to fire grenades into the cockpit of the Hind.

During 1999's Zanzibar Land Disturbance, Solid Snake encountered yet another Hind D, which this time was much more fearsome than its predecessor. The Hind was able to take off before being engaged by Snake, so it had full access to its missiles and other weapons. However, Snake was able to ground the chopper using several Stinger missiles. The Hind D helicopters used in Zanzibar Land were modified versions of the standard Hind D, correcting flaws in the original design and increasing its abilities and firepower. The Hind D ZL is invulnerable to small firearms, and could also be equipped with boat-shaped hull, for balance of the wings, tail, and both sides of the cockpit, for use in amphibious operations. The Gigant, a Zanzibar Land-developed airlift helicopter designed specifically for the transport of Metal Gear D, was also stated to have been derived from Hind D technology in addition to Sikorsky line of transport choppers.

Hind D ZL specifications

Equipment:
 * Periscope sensor equipped to mast height (this allows the use of periscope attacks in dense environments such as jungles.
 * Boat-shaped hull for amphibious ops.

Weaponry:
 * 57mm missile pod
 * 132 rounds AT-2 Swatter anti-tank missiles
 * 132 rounds AT-6 Spiral anti-tank missiles
 * 132 rounds Stinger anti-aircraft missiles
 * 132 rounds Sagar anti-tank missiles
 * Four-barreled YakB-12.7 12.7mm gatling gun or twin-barreled GSh-23L 23mm cannon
 * Vulcan cannon

During 2005's Shadow Moses Incident, a Hind D was piloted by Liquid Snake and a Genome Soldier. The Hind had been given to Liquid by Sergei Gurlukovich, as a down payment in exchange for the Metal Gear REX data. It utilized infrared and night-vision equipment. Liquid initially used the Hind to shoot down two F-16s. Later, he demonstrated the gunship's prowess as a fearsome combat machine while battling Solid Snake, often maneuvering in often surprising positions and gunning. Liquid had to pilot the Hind on manual due to the blizzard nullifying the use of IR and nightvision equipment. Just as in Zanzibar Land, Snake was able to destroy the Hind D with stinger missiles, though Liquid would survive the helicopter's destruction.

During 2014's Second Shadow Moses Incident, Old Snake (Solid Snake) sees the crashed Hind that was used during the 2005 incident. Also in 2014, Hind As were also a part of Clawing Ocelot.

Trivia

 * Naked Snake, Sigint and Zero were the ones who originally coined the term "Hind" in 1964.
 * The stinger missiles that Snake procured in Zanzibar Land were originally going to be fitted onto the Hind Ds.
 * Liquid was apparently such a skilled pilot that he could fly a Hind from the weapons operator's seat. The pilot's seat is in the rear cockpit; although there are dual flying controls, this means that the Genome Soldier who accompanied Liquid during his fight with Snake wasn't required to do anything.

Behind the scenes
The Hind helicopter has become a staple of the Metal Gear series, appearing as mandatory boss in most games since the series' beginnings.

In Metal Gear, the Hind D was a boss but was removed and replaced by different boss characters Twin Shotin the NES version of Metal Gear. In Metal Gear 2, the Hind D shares the same boss BGM theme ("Mechanic") as Metal Gear D, fought later in Metal Gear 2. In Metal Gear Solid of the Playstation, Liquid Snake pilots the Hind D from the gunner's seat (presumably done for cinematic reasons) to make him more visible in frontal shots of the helicopter. While in the remake, he was seen piloting in the pilots cockpit instead of the weapons operator seat (although he still manages to fire missiles at Snake), and the Genome Soldier piloting the gunship with him was also omitted after the first Hind D cutscene. Also in the remake, similar to Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake the Hind D shares the same boss BGM theme as Metal Gear REX.

The earlier-designed Hind A model is encountered in the PlayStation 2's Metal Gear Solid 3, patrolling the Krasnogorje Mountaintop, and attacking the player during the Alert phase. The helicopters used to transport the Shagohod early in the game, were originally intended to be Russian Kamovs, but the modeling team did not want to create an all-new helicopter model for the 15 seconds that they were to be shown, so they used the Hind A model instead.

In the first PlayStation Portable game Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, the Hind A makes appearances during the game's cutscenes.

In the PlayStation 3's Metal Gear Solid 4, the player can see the crashed Hind that was used by Liquid in Metal Gear Solid in the northeast section of the snowfield. Also, Hind As were seen in the Clawing Ocelot PMC TV spot.

In the second PlayStation Portable game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, various models can be fought during gameplay, with the player having the opportunity to capture them, for use by the Militaires Sans Frontieres. Promotional spots for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker also had various vehicles in various areas, with a Hind D being seen travelling through Los Cantos's canyon along with various MBTK-70s and LAV-typeCs, although this along with other similar scenes were cut from the final game. In the last few minutes of the Tactical Espionage Operations trailer released shortly before Peace Walker's release in Japan, there were six Hind Ds owned by the Militaires Sans Frontieres that were approaching Mother Base in a scene that was ultimately cut from the game.

In Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D - The Naked Sample, a Hind A was patrolling near Dolinovodno, with Snake hiding behind a tree. The Hind A then crossed over the bridge. After Snake was forced to jump the bridge due to being stung by various hornets, he held onto the ledge of the bridge right above the churning rotors of a Hind A below the bridge, and crawled away as the Hind went away from the bridge to continue patrolling the river, with a second Hind following it. While navigating a very narrow cliffline, three more Hind As arrived to patrol the ravine surrounding Dolinovodno before Snake attempted to evade a rockslide.

Gameplay
In Metal Gear Solid 3, if the player snipes at Groznyj Grad from the Vista, near the Krasnogorje Mountaintop Ruins, the base will go on alert and send a Hind A chopper to attack Snake. Even if the Hind A is destroyed, another one will take its place.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear
 * Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
 * Metal Gear Solid
 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker