The Hip choppers can also operate in the gunship role carrying 57mm rocket launchers: the photo in this post shows a Mi-17 firing S5 rockets from medium altitude during a live firing exercise.
David Cenciotti is a freelance journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written four books.
Russian attack helicopter pilots must be used to fly well below treetop altitude. The opening phase of the recent invasion of Crimea saw Russian gunships cross the Strait of Kerch at very low altitude. In […]
Although not exactly from the gunner’s point of view, the following picture, taken over the Republic of Korea on Sept. 12, 2012, gives an idea of what firing down on a range with the AC-130U […]
Provided the following is genuine (since it was published on Facebook, it is hard to determine its authentiticy), it represents the official statement of the General Command of the Syrian Armed Forces, about the downing […]