Mil Mi-4

Mi-4
Mil Mi-4 at Prague Aviation Museum
Role Transport helicopter
Manufacturer Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant
First flight 3 June 1952
Introduction 1953
Status Limited Service; North Korean Air Force
Primary users Soviet Air Force
Polish Air Force
Produced 1951–1979
Number built over 4,000 including Z-5s
Variants Harbin Z-5

The Mil Mi-4 (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 36",[1] NATO reporting name "Hound").[2] was a Soviet transport helicopter that served in both military and civilian roles.

Design and development

The Mi-4 was designed in response to the American H-19 Chickasaw and the deployment of U.S. helicopters during the Korean War. While the Mi-4 superficially resembles the H-19 Chickasaw, it is a larger helicopter and is able to lift more weight. The first model entered service in 1952, and replaced the Mi-1. The helicopter was first displayed to the outside world in 1952 at the Soviet Aviation Day in Tushino.

One Mi-4 was built with a jettisonable rotor. It served as an experimental vehicle for future pilot's means of safety and ejection designs.[3]

Operational history

The Mi-4 transport helicopter laid the beginning of the Soviet Army Aviation, it was widely used both in the armed forces and in the national economy and for several decades remained the main type of helicopter in the inventory of the Soviet Armed Forces and of the Civil Air Fleet. The Mi-4 went out of service with the development of the Mi-8. It is not used by the Russian Air Force anymore, though it remained in service in some countries as a utility helicopter or as a military transport a while longer. Albania was thought to be the final country using the helicopter and by 2005 all were out of service. The Mi-4 played a very important role in Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. The Mi-4 was the workhorse of the Indian Army at the time. A highly successful heli-borne operation, the Meghna Heli Bridge, using Mi-4s helped the Indian Army's 57 Mountain Division clear the Meghna River. The helilift of a battalion of Indian troops to the outskirts of Sylhet was the first heli-borne operation of the Indian army.

Much like the UH-1 Huey, after it was gradually phased out of military service, it was used in various domestic roles: search and rescue, firefighting, polar expeditioning, construction site cargo helicopter, commercial flights and many others.[3]

An official video of a North Korean Air Force combat flying skills competition released in 2014 shows that the Mi-4 is still in limited service in North Korea.[4]

Variants

V-12
Prototype. Designation reused for the Mi-12.
Mi-4 (NATO – Hound-A)
Basic production version.
Mi-4A
Assault transport helicopter.
Mi-4AV
Armed versions based on the Mi-4A.
Mi-4GF
Factory designation for demilitarised Mi-4 for use in the Civil Air Fleet.
Mi-4L Lyukes
Six-seat VIP transport version, sometimes converted into an air ambulance helicopter.
Mi-4VL
Fire-fighting version of Mi-4L.
Mi-4M (NATO – Hound-C)
Armed close-support helicopter, fitted with a gun turret. Designation alternatively applied to the Mi-4VM, and also reused for ambulance variant for the Soviet Ministry of Health. Export designation Mi-4ME.
Mi-4MR
Upgraded version of Mi-4VM.
Mi-4P / Mi-4VP
Civil transport helicopter, with accommodation for between 8 and 11 passengers, plus eight stretchers and a medical attendant for air ambulance duties.
Mi-4PL (NATO – Hound-B)
Anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
Mi-4PS
SAR version.
Mi-4S Salon
VIP transport helicopter.
Mi-4Skh
Multi-role agricultural helicopter, with a large chemical container in the main cabin. Also used as a fire-fighting helicopter.
Mi-4T
Major military production version, equipped with a large diameter main rotor and bulged windows.
Mi-4VM (VM-12)
Anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
Mi-4BT
Minesweeper with floats.
Mi-4RI
Mi-4M equipped with the Rion experimental sonar.
Mi-4MT
Torpedo-carrying ASW attack (killer) aircraft derived from Mi-4M.
Mi-4MU
Attack helicopter.
Mi-4MO
Search helicopter with Oka sonar.
Mi-4MS
Search helicopter with Soora infra-red sensor.
Mi-4FV (Mi-4KV)
Photographic and guidance helicopter.
Mi-4Schch
"Polar version" of Mi-4FV for working at the Soviet Arctic and Antarctic research stations.
Mi-4SP
Special rescue modification.
Mi-4PG
Experimental version equipped with an external load sling system.
Mi-4SV
Mi-4 with improved heat insulation for working in the Far North.
Mi-4N "Filin" (Horned owl)
Experimental reconnaissance version intended for night-time use.
Mi-4KK (Mi-4VKP)
Mobile command post.
Mi-4KU (Mi-4VPU)
Mobile command post for controlling Air Force units.
Mi-4U
Target-designator version carrying the Oospekh (Success) system.
Mi-4GR
Mi-4 fitted with Grebeshok-3 (Haircomb-3) wide-range panoramic detection and relay radar.
Mi-4TARK
TV-equipped artillery reconnaissance and spotting helicopter.
Mi-4MK (Mi-4PP)
ECM version.
Mi-4UM
Radio-controlled target drone version.
Harbin Z-5
Chinese military transport helicopter. Chinese production version.
Harbin Z-6
Prototype turbine powered version of the Z-5, no production undertaken.
Xuanfeng
Chinese civil transport helicopter. Chinese production version.
Unnamed Variants

Operators

 Afghanistan
 Albania
MI-4 in Riga aviation museum
 Algeria
 Bangladesh
 Bulgaria
 Cambodia
 China
 Cuba
 Czechoslovakia
 East Germany
 Egypt
 Finland
 Hungary
A Mil Mi-4 at Belgrade Aviation Museum
 India
 Indonesia
 Iraq
 Khmer Republic
 Mali
 Mongolia
 North Korea
 Poland
 Romania
 Somalia
 Soviet Union
 Sudan
a Hungarian Mi-4
 Syria
 Vietnam
 North Yemen
 Yugoslavia

Specifications (Mi-4A)

Mil Mi-4 3-view drawing

Data from www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/mi-4-specs.htm

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Notes

  1. ↑ "Designations of Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft and Missiles". Designation-systems.net. 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
  2. ↑ "Designations of Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft and Missiles". Designation-systems.net. 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
  3. 1 2 John Pike. "Mi-4 HOUND (MIL)". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0yNcM4kV6g
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Military Helicopter Market 1971 pg. 575". Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  6. ↑ "Military Helicopter Market 1981 pg. 321". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Military Helicopter Market 1975 pg. 293". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Military Helicopter Market 1971 pg. 576". Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  9. 1 2 3 "Military Helicopter Market 1971 pg. 577". Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Military Helicopter Market 1971 pg. 578". Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  11. ↑ "Military Helicopter Market 1975 Force Aerienne du Mali". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  12. ↑ "Military Helicopter Market 1971 pg. 579". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Military Helicopter Market 1975 pg. 304". Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Military Helicopter Market 1971 pg. 580". Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  15. ↑ "Military Helicopter Market 1981 pg. 372". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "Military Helicopter Market 1972 pg. 202". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  17. ↑ "Military Helicopter Market 1981 pg. 374". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  18. 1 2 3 "Military Helicopter Market 1971 pg. 581". Retrieved 2013-04-03.

References

External links

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