A wrecked Russian military helicopter Mi-35M was found in the Kharkiv region. The footage of the crashed aircraft was shown by analysts from the Ukraine Weapons Tracker.
Helicopter destroyed by Ukrainian artillery near Tokarevka, Kharkiv region.
Artillery of the 14th separate mechanized brigade, which on February 9 showed a video with this Mi-35M, but the photos from the scene appeared only now.
#Ukraine: Images from the ground of Russian helicopter that was destroyed by Ukrainian artillery of the 14th Brigade near Tokarivka, #Kharkiv Region. This type can be defined as Mi-35M. https://t.co/2Gcdt1AMWspic.twitter.com/m0iPqYdfsa
— �� Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 18, 2023
Then, the released video also shows another Mi-8 helicopter, which was probably planning to evacuate the pilots. This Mi-35M infantry support (attack) helicopter is quite common in the Russian armed forces.
The first contract for the supply of 22 Mi-35M helicopters to the Russian Air Force was signed in 2010. He is able to use guided and unguided weapons in different versions.
What is known about the Mi-35
Mi-35 is another modernization of the famous Soviet helicopter Mi-24, drawn in the 1960s.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine regularly destroy Russian attack helicopters Mi-28 and Ka-52, which are specialized vehicles and are actively used by the Russian army in battles. But there are more and more cases when quite rare helicopters, for example, the Mi-35M, fall after hitting the sight of a Ukrainian fighter.
The Mi-35 is also called the “flying infantry fighting vehicle”, which can accommodate up to eight fighters in the airborne squad and must carry weapons for their fire support, led to the fact that in the vast majority of cases the Mi-24 was used only as an attack helicopter.
The failure of this concept led to the emergence of such long-term construction projects as exclusively shock Mi-28 and Ka-50. But the Mi-24s produced in huge numbers needed modernization. Therefore, in Russia, as soon as crazy oil and gas money appeared, they began to modernize the helicopter, called the Mi-24VM.
To simplify work with foreign clients and increase the export potential, the model was renamed Mi-35M. This is due to the fact that during the USSR, Mi-24s were exported under the names Mi-25 and Mi-35, depending on the modernization.
The machine has some elements of onboard radar equipment, primarily protection systems against MANPADS missiles. Also in the Mi-35M, the landing gear was made non-retractable, and after 2014, a change of engines was declared.
An opto-electronic system with television and thermal imaging channels was also added, as well as a laser rangefinder. It provides target detection at a range of up to 5-6 km during the day and 3-4 km at night. Also in Russia, it was stated that the Ataka anti-tank missile system was built into the armament of the Mi-35M helicopter.
But most of the videos on the use of helicopters by the enemy indicate that their main armament is unguided rockets, which are launched from an artificially increased distance thanks to a pitch-up (with a nose up) launch.
Source: Racurs
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