Mil Mi-4

Mi-4
	Mil Mi-4 at Prague Aviation Museum
Role	Transport helicopter
Manufacturer	Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant
First flight	3 June 1952
Introduction	1953
Status	Retired
Primary users	Soviet Air Force; Polish Air Force
Produced	1951-1979
Number built	over 4,000 including Z-5s
Variants	Harbin Z-5

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The Mil Mi-4 (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 36",^[1] NATO reporting name "Hound".^[2]) was a Soviet transport helicopter that served in both military and civilian roles.

[edit] Design and development

The Mi-4 was designed in response to the American H-19 Chickasaw and the deployment of U.S. helicopters during the Korean War. While the Mi-4 superficially resembles the H-19 Chickasaw, it is a larger helicopter and is able to lift more weight. The first model entered service in 1952, and replaced the Mi-1. The helicopter was first displayed to the outside world in 1952 at the Soviet Aviation Day in Tushino.

One Mi-4 was built with a jettisonable rotor. It served as an experimental vehicle for future pilot safety and ejection designs.^[3]

[edit] Operational history

The Mi-4 transport helicopter laid the beginning of the Soviet Army Aviation, it was widely used both in the armed forces and in the national economy and for several decades remained the main type of helicopter in the inventory of the Soviet Armed Forces and of the Civil Air Fleet. The Mi-4 went out of service with the development of the Mi-8. It is not used by the Russian Air Force anymore, though it remained in service in some countries as a utility helicopter or as a military transport a while longer. Albania was thought to be the final country using the helicopter and by 2005 all were out of service. The Mi-4 played a very important role in Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. The Mi-4 was the workhorse of the Indian Army at the time. A highly successful heli-borne operation using Mi-4s helped the Indian Army's 57 Mountain Division clear the Meghna River. The helilift of a battalion of Indian troops to the outskirts of Sylhet was the first heli-borne operation of the Indian army.

Much like the UH-1 Huey, after it was gradually phased out of military service, it was used in various domestic roles: search and rescue, firefighting, polar expeditioning, construction site cargo helicopter, commercial flights and many others.^[4]

[edit] Variants

V-12: Prototype. Designation reused for the Mi-12.
Mi-4 (NATO - Hound-A): Basic production version.
Mi-4A: Assault transport helicopter.
Mi-4AV: Armed versions based on the Mi-4A.
Mi-4GF: Factory designation for demilitarised Mi-4 for use in the Civil Air Fleet.
Mi-4L Lyukes: Six-seat VIP transport version, sometimes converted into an air ambulance helicopter.
Mi-4VL: Fire-fighting version of Mi-4L.
Mi-4M (NATO - Hound-C): Armed close-support helicopter, fitted with a gun turret. Designation alternatively applied to the Mi-4VM, and also reused for ambulance variant for the Soviet Ministry of Health. Export designation Mi-4ME.
Mi-4MR: Upgraded version of Mi-4VM.
Mi-4P / Mi-4VP: Civil transport helicopter, with accommodation for between 8 and 11 passengers, plus eight stretchers and a medical attendant for air ambulance duties.
Mi-4PL (NATO - Hound-B): Anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
Mi-4PS: SAR version.
Mi-4S Salon: VIP transport helicopter.
Mi-4Skh: Multi-role agricultural helicopter, with a large chemical container in the main cabin. Also used as a fire-fighting helicopter.
Mi-4T: Major military production version, equipped with a large diameter main rotor and bulged windows.
Mi-4VM (VM-12): Anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
Mi-4BT: Minesweeper with floats.
Mi-4RI: Mi-4M equipped with the Rion experimental sonar.
Mi-4MT: Torpedo-carrying ASW attack (killer) aircraft derived from Mi-4M.
Mi-4MU: Attack helicopter.
Mi-4MO: Search helicopter with Oka sonar.
Mi-4MS: Search helicopter with Soora infra-red sensor.
Mi-4FV (Mi-4KV): Photographic and guidance helicopter.
Mi-4Schch: "Polar version" of Mi-4FV for working at the Soviet Arctic and Antarctic research stations.
Mi-4SP: Special rescue modification.
Mi-4PG: Experimental version equipped with an external load sling system.
Mi-4SV: Mi-4 with improved heat insulation for working in the Far North.
Mi-4N "Filin" (Horned owl): Experimental reconnaissance version intended for night-time use.
Mi-4KK (Mi-4VKP): Mobile command post.
Mi-4KU (Mi-4VPU): Mobile command post for controlling Air Force units.
Mi-4U: Target-designator version carrying the Oospekh (Success) system.
Mi-4GR: Mi-4 fitted with Grebeshok-3 (Haircomb-3) wide-range panoramic detection and relay radar.
Mi-4TARK: TV-equipped artillery reconnaissance and spotting helicopter.
Mi-4MK (Mi-4PP): ECM version.
Mi-4UM: Radio-controlled target drone version.
Harbin Z-5: Chinese military transport helicopter. Chinese production version.
Harbin Z-6: Prototype turbine powered version of the Z-5, no production undertaken.
Xuanfeng: Chinese civil transport helicopter. Chinese production version.

Unnamed Variants

Mi-4 minelayer version produced by converting troop-carrier helicopters.

Mi-4 modified for transporting and laying gas pipelines.

Mi-4 with Panorama 360 cin camera system produced by conversion.

Mi-4 with the Pristavka (Add-on) radio equipment developed in 1957 for guidance of remote-controlled reconnaissance balloons.

Mi-4s used as testbeds. Apart from the above mentioned versions, the Mi-4 and Mi-4A were widely used as testbeds of various kinds for testing subassemblies and systems of future aircraft, as well as equipment for other branches of industry.

[edit] Operators

Mi-4 operators

[edit] Military operators

Afghanistan: Afghan Air Force - 18 acquired by the Royal Afghan Air Force from 1963, withdrawing the last from service in 1997.^[5]
Albania: Albanian Air Force - 59 total examples acquired by the Albanian Air Force from 1957, including 37 Z-5 versions from 1967. These were reported in service as late as 2004.^[5]
Algeria: Algerian Air Force
Angola: People's Air and Air Defence Force of Angola
Bangladesh: Bangladesh Air Force
Bulgaria

Burkina Faso: 4 in service 1985-1989
Cambodia: Cambodian Air Force
Cameroon: Cameroon Air Force operated 1.
China

Cuba: One example, of the FAR (Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria) is displayed at the Museo del Aire (Cuba)^[6]
Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakian Air Force
Czechoslovakian National Security Guard

East Germany

Egypt

Egyptian Air Force

Finland: Finnish Air Force - 3 units were in service with the Finnish Air Force from 1962-1979.
Guinea-Bissau
Ghana: Ghana Air Force - Operated only one helicopter.