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Wings of the Red Star Mi-24 the Hind is a must see!


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This is a must see, because almost the entire thing is about operations in Afghanistan. Has tons of footage showing not just helo ops but the country, terrain, the people, the muj, Soviet troops and weapons, etc.,  and is on YT. Am not providing a link because there is some gory stuff in the video, and I don't wish to get a rocket from the Mods for violating the no gore stricture.

Regards,

John Kettler

Edited by John Kettler
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  • John Kettler changed the title to Wings of the Red Star Mi-24 the Hind is a must see!

Interestingly, at about 34:00 when the documentary starts waffling (it does that quite a bit) about the Stinger, it appears to show the Mujahideen using what looks like a Milan ATGM...I'd heard these were supplied to the Mujahideen, but I don't recall ever seeing one before. 

PS - Interesting vehicle at 42:15, looks like some sort of T-55 based combat engineer vehicle with what may be a ZU-23-2 on the deck. 

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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Sgt.Squarehead,

According to information I've seen, the muj got MANPADS: Redeye (IR-guided tail chase only) via CIA, some small quantity of Blowpipe (MCLOS) from UK (source unknown) and, ultimately, Stinger (all-aspect IR) from the CIA. When I was at Rockwell, I got to watch the Pentagon's FOUO Betamax video of the Stinger in action with the muj, and it was eating up helicopters and fighters (saw no Su-25) being used for ground attack. Offhand, I see no reason why Milan couldn't (kinematics permitting) be used effectively against a helicopter. In one of the Mi-24 vids I saw, there was mention of a HOT air-to-air kill on an Iranian ground attack aircraft in the Iran-Iraq War, and the Russian CLGMs were designed to deal with ATGM armed attack helos as well as ATGM launchers on the ground outside of effective tank cannon range. Am aware of the Mi-24 snatch but will certainly watch the video.

Good spot on the engineering vehicle. Image was too poor for me to ID. The ZU-23 on the back is an obvious field expedient to provide capability against high elevation threats. ZU-23 admirably suited as a day-ruiner for muj!

Regards,

John Kettler

Edited by John Kettler
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Sgt.Squarehead,

Misunderstood you, but I still think it could down helcopters. Found a really useful Wiki page on muj weapons of the Soviet-Afghan War. Among other things, it shows the UK was the second largest western MANPADS supplier, with 50 Blowpipe launchers and 6 Blowpipe missiles per launcher. Stingers supplied amounted to 800 total. 160 Milan launchers were delivered by France in 1988 vs 80 TOW. No missile count provided for either.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_equipment_used_by_mujahideen_during_Soviet–Afghan_War

According to a spook directly involved in getting weapons to the muj, Milan did to tank formations what the Stinger did to helicopter squadrons. Called it "devastating." Milan was deployed on orders of the White House and was supplied after the Stingers were sent in.

https://books.google.com/books?id=a3Z_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103#v=onepage&q&f=false

Regards,

John Kettler

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Interesting indeed. 

Astonishing to see how late some modern equipment was handed out to the muj.

The Milan as late as 1988 so with the soviets well on their way out.

Edited by Hacketäuer
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