The Mi-24 attack helicopter, NATO reporting name “Hind,” is a unique Soviet design concept that does not truly have a Western counterpart. It was an attempt to combine the firepower of a heavily armed and armored helicopter gunship with the troop carrying capability of a light assault helicopter like the Bell UH-1. While the troop carrying capability proved to be of little use in combat the Mi-24 has become one of the most successful attack helicopters ever built. Design work on the Mi-24 began in the late 1960s with production and deployment of the helicopter to Soviet forces beginning in 1970. The Mi-24 was widely sold to the Soviet Union’s allies and the first combat use of the Hind was by Ethiopia during its war with Somalia in 1977. The Mi-24 came to the prominent attention of the public during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. The Hind proved to be very difficult to shoot down and it was this fact that helped lead the United States into supplying direct military aid to the Afghans in the form of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. The Hind has survived the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact with the Mi-24 remaining in service with the Russian military and with more than 30 other countries.