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 Revolt.

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, save 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-1 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 All existing Hind A, B, and C designs have since been superseded by the D or the later Mi-24V Hind E design.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.

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 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. 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.

During the 1970 San Hieronymo Takeover, Hind A helicopters were witnessed during the FOX unit's rebellion on the San Hieronymo Peninsula. Several Hind-As were used in the "theft" of the the first Metal Gear model. Also, a Hind A (with Ursula aboard) was searching around while Big Boss (Naked Snake) and some of his resistance soldiers were searching the Hospital for Malaria drugs for Roy Campbell and stumbled upon a shipping list for a Research Lab. Gene, Cunningham, and Ursula had noticed that Snake and Campbell had escaped from the prison and were looking for them in a Hind-A helicopter, as well as radioing some of their personnel to search for them, including someone by the name of Python. A squadron of at least three Hind-As were then witnessed arriving at the plant right when Snake and Elisa were about to place TNT charges on Metal Gear RAXA. Three more Hind-As were witnessed carrying away the ICBMG from the plant, and Gene (after having both his own men and some of Snake's men commit essentially mass-riot suicide) had left in another Hind-A helicopter.

During the 1974 Peace Walker Incident, Hind helicopters of both varieties are involved in the invasion of Costa Rica. Hot Coldman boarded a Hind D while Chrysalis airlifted Peace Walker's frame out of Mt. Irazu to the secret mining facility. While traveling over to the AI Facility in the Costa Rican jungle in Central Heredia, Naked Snake (Big Boss) and the Militaires Sans Frontieres had taken down a Hind A helicopter. Apparently the Hind A helicopters in Costa Rica, or at least that particular one, carry an extra fuel tank in case enemies try to attack it and successfully destroy a fuel tank, given Kazuhira Miller's comments. Snake then either destroyed or captured the Chopper. Coldman, along with Paz Ortega Andrade and Strangelove, then entered a Hind D and travelled with the fully functional Peace Walker to the United States Missile Base in Nicaragua. Much later, while trying to enter the Communications Tower of the Nicaraguan/United States Missile Base, a Hind D manages to ambush Snake, forcing Snake to fight it head on along with Soviet infantrymen. Big Boss and MSF can also capture their own Hind As and Hind Ds in the Banana Fruta de Oro and/or Catarata de la Muerta by killing/tranquilizing the pilot. All of the Hinds used during the Peace Walker Incident were given to the Peace Sentinels by Soviet forces led by Vladimir Alexandrovich Zadornov's when formulating an alliance, given Zadornov's statement to Coldman when turning on him.

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

During the 1999 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 artillery. 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.

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 MGS1_hind_D.jpg
 * Four-barreled YakB-12.7 12.7mm gatling gun or twin-barreled GSh-23L 23mm cannon

During the 2005 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 the Second Shadow Moses Incident in 2014, Old Snake sees the crashed Hind that was used during the 2005 incident. Also, 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 him in 2005 wasn't required to do anything.

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

A Hind is fought in a mandatory boss battle in Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, and Metal Gear Solid. However, in the NES version of MG, the Hind D was removed and replaced by different boss characters, known as Twin Shot. The Hind D in MG2 shares the same boss BGM theme ("Mechanic") as Metal Gear D, fought later in the game. In MGS1, Liquid Snake pilots the Hind D from the gunner's seat, which was presumably done for cinematic reasons, to make him more visible in frontal shots of the helicopter.

The earlier-designed Hind A model is encountered in 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 Metal Gear Solid 4, the player can see the crashed Hind that was used by Liquid, while at Shadow Moses Island, in the northeast section of the snowfield. Also, Hind As were seen in the Clawing Ocelot PMC TV spot.

Hinds also appear in the PlayStation Portable games, Portable Ops and Peace Walker. In the former, the Hind A makes appearances during the game's cutscenes, while in the latter, various models can be fought during gameplay, with the player having the opportunity to capture them, for use by the Militaires Sans Frontieres.

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