Mi-35 Attack Helicopter

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Mi-35 Attack Helicopter (Photo: U.S. Air Force)

These attack helicopters carry twin-barreled Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 mm guns, a Yak-B 12.7 mm machine gun, and the S-5 57 mm rocket pod. This provides the AAF a vital air-to-ground capability. The Mi-35 is the export model of the Mi-24 Attack Helicopter

Numbers. Depending on which source you read there are anywhere from six Mi-17s to twelve Mi-17s in the Afghan Air Force. However, it appears that the U.S. Air Force uses the figure of five Mi-17s. Rumor control says that only two or three of these can be in the air at any one time.

End Date. Supposedly these Mi-35s will go out of service in 2016. This was based on the fielding of twenty A-29 Super Tocanos that are supposed to fill the close air support role for the Afghan Air Force. But due to mis-management by the US Air Force and Congressional meddling the A-29s fielding was delayed by at least two years; with the first A-29 programmed to be in Afghanistan in December 2015.

News Articles on the Mi-35 Attack Helicopter

July 16, 2019. "US to Afghanistan: Ditch the Mi-35",  Air Force Magazine.

July 15, 2019. "The Afghan Air Force Just Can't Quit the Hind Gunship Helicopter", The Drive - Warzone.

January 21, 2016. "India's Mi-35 Helicopters Ready for First Battle in Afghanistan", NDTV. The four choppers may see their first combat action in Helmand province.

October 9, 2015. "Russia to Sell Modern Attack Helicopters to Afghanistan". The Diplomat.

April 22, 2015. "Afghanistan's Iconic Hind Gunships Won't fly Much Longer". By Joseph Trevithick, War is Boring, April 22 ,2015.