MIL Mi-24 Helicopter.

Another Unique Design.

That no western design company has followed, and one wonders why?

The Mil helicopter designers are but a few who built helicopters in the former Soviet Union, Kamov and Yakolev were the other two. The Mil's started with the Mi-1 and then just progressed in size up to the Mi-6/10 and on to the most succesful Mi-17/117, Mi-171.

But the origins of the the Mi-24/25-35 have a much different take, it was the Afghanistan wars of the 1970'-80's that called for a combined helicopter roles so that both specialised troops could be got on to an area fast and protected by heavy fire.

The rocket pods on the Mi-8/17 were not suitable, so it was decided to combine two machines into one, transporter and gunship. There have over the years been many variants from the early glazed noses to the present aircraft style canopies. 

The west meantime do not seem to have taken advantage of developing a similar type, but rather have kept to fast transport backed up by supporting helicopter gunships.

Sukhoi. Part-Two.

From Sukhoi SU-7 to SU-29.

This company has a long history in Russian aviation from the introduction of the SU-7 with a 1.6 Mac (17,000Km/h) speed to various versions, being deployed in Syria at the present time. The SU-19 laid the basis for many present day Chinese designs, but today the SU-24 Fencer, SU-25 Frogfoot along with the SU-27/29 Flanker are the mainstay of the Russian Federation's help to Al-Assad.

These are state of the art fighters each fulfilling various roles from Bombing, Inteception and ground attack. In fact they all are much better than many current western fighters such as the F-16 and F-14/15.

The SU-25 Frogfoot is perhaps the best multi-role counter/ground-attack fighter aircraft flying, with a vast array of optional weapons carried on its eight hardpoints. This operating systems with the Mil-Mi-24 helicopter gunships and even Mil Mi-28's will prove a defining effect against ISIL/ISIS in the region.