Hind
From the Metal Gear Wiki
- "A Hind D...?"
- — Solid Snake
Hinds were Russian attack and transport choppers used by not only Liquid Snake, but also Colonel Volgin and GRU during Operation Snake Eater.
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[edit] Background
The Mil-series of helicopters stem from the design bureau of Mikhail Mil. Nearly all Soviet-era helicopters are from the Mil design bureau, save for the Kamov helicopters. The Mi-24 was the first purpose- built Helicopter Gunship in the Soviet military forces. Unlike the slimmer US-made AH-1 Hueycobra, the Mi-24 was not designed solely as an antitank helicopter; the Hind was larger due to a 6-to-8 man troop compartment in the main body, as it was meant both as troop transport and attack helicopter. Most of the Mi-24's weaponry was in the form of 4 unguided rocket pods mounted on the wings, as well as 2-4 optional air-to-ground missiles on the wingtips.
The Mi-24D, or Hind D, has a new cockpit design. The early Mi-24s (Hind A to Hind C) had a squat, polygonal side-by-side cockpit, but the Hind D was probably influenced by the 'tandem' in-line configuration of US attack helicopters. The Mi-24D has two cockpit 'bubbles', with the pilot in the upper bubble and the gunner in the lower one, separate from each other. This also gives the Hind D access to either a 12.7mm or 23mm auto cannon, mounted under the chin of the Gunner's bubble. All existing Hind A, B, and C designs have since been upgraded to the D or the later Mi-24V Hind E design.
All Hind helicopters pack armored cockpits for pilot and gunner, capable of absorbing anything up to 20mm auto cannon hits; obviously a feature in case the Hind were ever to encounter its counterpart, the US-made AH-1 Cobra helicopter, equipped with a 20mm turret gun. The Hind's large size and dual-purpose design are its downfall, however. The additional size and weight make the Hind sluggish in air combat maneuvers, thus it was probably not intended for helicopter vs helicopter duels, but as close air support for ground troops against tanks.
[edit] Operation Snake Eater
Hind D prototypes, identified by their greenhouse style canopy tops, were used by Colonel Volgin to transport the Shagohod from Nikolai Stephanovich Sokolov's design bureau to his massive fortress, Groznyj Grad. Hind D's were also used to patrol the mountaintops, in addition to being used to transport GRU troops.
During the Virtuous Mission, after The Boss defected and launched Naked Snake over Dolinovodno Bridge, she, along with the Cobra Unit, Ocelot, and Volgin, were transported back to Groznyj Grad via Hind B. Later, during Operation Snake Eater, Naked Snake encountered a parked Hind B at Bolshaya Past Base, then again later encountered the helicopter while in the mountains after defeating The End.
[edit] Operation Intrude N313
During Operation Intrude N313, Solid Snake was attacked by a massive Hind D helicopter shortly before parachuting from the rooftop onto the courtyard. The Hind had yet to take off, though, and had next to no movement besides the gunner's machine gun. Snake was able to easily destroy the Hind by using a grenade launcher to fire grenades into the cockpit of the Hind.
[edit] Zanzibar Land Uprising
Early into his infiltration of Zanzibar Land, Snake encountered yet another Hind D, which this time was much more fearsome than its predecessor. The Hind was able to take off before being engaged by Snake, so it had full access to its missiles and artillery. However, Snake was able to ground the chopper using several Stinger missiles.
[edit] FOXHOUND Rebellion
Once again, while infiltrating Shadow Moses Island during the FOXHOUND Rebellion of 2005, Solid Snake did battle with yet another Hind D, this time piloted by his own brother, Liquid Snake. As usual, Snake was able to destroy the Hind and seemingly kill Liquid in the process, yet later, upon discovering a parachute hanging from a nearby tree, it was evident that Liquid had ejected and survived the crash.
[edit] Trivia
- The Hind D's in Metal Gear Solid 3 used to transport the Shagohod were originally supposed to be Russian Kamovs, but the modeling team didn't want to model an all-new helicopter model for the 15 seconds they were shown, so they used the Hind B model instead.
