Mil Mi-22 (1975)
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| Mi-22 | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | airborne command post |
| National origin | Soviet Union |
| Manufacturer | Mil |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1975 |
| Developed from | Mil Mi-6 |
The Mil Mi-22 (Cyrillic Миль Ми-22) is a helicopter that was developed for use as an airborne command post for the Soviet Army in the mid 1970s. In the early 1970s, Mil had built the Mi-6AYA or Mi-6VzPU as modifications of the basic Mi-6 transport helicopter for use in similar roles. The modifications from these earlier aircraft entered serial production under the designation Mi-22, which was reused from an unbuilt development of the Mi-2 from 1965. The Mi-22 was in service with the Soviet Air Force from the late 1970s, through the dissolution of the Soviet Union and then with the Russian Air Force until the early 2000s.
Based on the Mi-6 airframe, the Mi-22 is a large helicopter of conventional design, with a pod-and-boom fuselage and a single, five-bladed main rotor.[1] It has large stub wings mounted on the fuselage sides and fixed, tricycle undercarriage.[1] The major differences between the Mi-6 transport and Mi-22 command and control aircraft are internal,[1] but the Mi-22 can be externally distinguished by a large aerial mounted on the tail boom.[2] Individual aircraft featured numerous other differences in antenna placement, depending on the communications equipment used by the units to which they were assigned.[3] Such were the external similarities to Mi-6 transports that command post aircraft were often given a red stripe of paint to make them identifiable to troops.[3]