This book describes one of the world's longest serving and most widely used military helicopters. Developed in the 1960s by the Soviet Union as a fire-support helicopter, more than 2,000 have been produced and continue in production today. Given the codename 'Hind' by NATO in the Cold War years, this fearsome helicopter is also known by other names by those who have either operated it or who had had to deal with it. The Mujahideen guerrillas described it as the 'Devil's Chariot' during its deployment to Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and occupation between 1979 and 1989. The Hind has also been used operationally in Chad, Nicaragua, Angola, Chechnya, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Mali and Ukraine. The Hind remains in service with more than twenty countries, including former Soviet bloc countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Serbia, which are now part of NATO. The book covers the development of the helicopter as well as its deployments in both the Cold War and recent and current operations. The book is written by an acknowledged aircraft expert and accompanied by original photography.
