The Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces and the President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vucic, today visited the display of newly acquired weapons and military equipment for the Serbian Armed Forces at the military airport “Colonel-Pilot Milenko Pavlovic” in Batajnica. The tour was attended by Minister of Defense Miloš Vu?evi? and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, Lt Gen Želimir Glišovir. During the visit, Assistant Minister of Defence for Material Resources Nenad Miloradovic PhD and Air Force and Air Defence Commander Major General Duško Žarkovi? informed President Vucic about projects to equip Air Force and Air Defence with newly purchased assets of arms and military equipment. The static display presented in Batajnica included helicopters Mi-35P and H-145M, modernised aeroplane “Orao”, transport aeroplanes CASA C-295 and aeroplanes “Lasta”.
The Serbian Armed Forces purchased a total of five aircraft from the Cyprus Air Forces. Cyprus Air Forces (Cyprus Air Command) will have a total of nine Mi-35 helicopters after the delivery. It was reported earlier that Cyprus wishes to sell all 11 Mi-35P attack helicopters to Serbia. Cyprus intends to replace the Mi-35PN with 12 new attack helicopters. In July 2022, the Cypriot government announced that six Eurocopter EC145 helicopters would be procured from Airbus with an option for six more. These helicopters would cover the roles of reconnaissance and attack. They will be replacing the ageing Mil Mi-24 helicopters in service which are hard and costly to maintain. The proposal involves buying six aircraft initially and another six later, over a 10-year period.
The Mil Mi-24 (NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced by the Soviet Air Force in 1972. The helicopter is currently in use by 58 countries. In NATO circles, the export versions, Mi-25 and Mi-35, are denoted with a letter suffix as “Hind D” and “Hind E”. Soviet pilots called the Mi-24 the “flying tank” (Letayushchiy Tank), a term used historically with the famous World War II Soviet Il-2 Shturmovik armored ground attack aircraft. Other common unofficial nicknames were “Galina” (or “Galya”), “Crocodile” (Krokodil), due to the helicopter’s camouflage scheme, and “Drinking Glass” (Stakan), because of the flat glass plates that surround earlier Mi-24 variants’ cockpits.
The core of the aircraft was derived from the Mil Mi-8 (NATO reporting name “Hip”) with two top-mounted turboshaft engines driving a mid-mounted 17.3 m five-blade main rotor and a three-blade tail rotor. The engine configuration gave the aircraft its distinctive double air intake. Original versions have an angular greenhouse-style cockpit; Model D and later have a characteristic tandem cockpit with a “double bubble” canopy. Other airframe components came from the Mi-14 “Haze”. Two mid-mounted stub wings provide weapon hardpoints, each offering three stations, in addition to providing lift. The loadout mix is mission dependent; Mi-24s can be tasked with close air support, anti-tank operations, or aerial combat. The Mi-24’s titanium rotor blades are resistant to 12.7 mm rounds. The cockpit is protected by ballistic-resistant windscreens and a titanium-armored tub. The cockpit and crew compartment are overpressurized to protect the crew in NBC conditions.
