Mil Mi-4

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 strongly resembles the H-19 Chickasaw in general layout, including the innovative engine position in front of the cockpit, it is a larger helicopter, able to lift more weight and built in larger numbers. The first model entered service in 1953. The helicopter was first displayed to the outside world in 1952 at the Soviet Aviation Day in Tushino Airfield.

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

The Mi-4 transport helicopter laid the groundwork of Soviet Army Aviation. It was widely used both in the armed forces and in Soviet civil aviation, 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 no longer used by the Russian Air Force, 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 the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. The Mi-4 was the workhorse of the Indian Air Force[4] covering the medium lift role at the time. A highly successful heli-borne operation, the Meghna Heli Bridge, 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.[3]

An official video of a North Korean Air Force combat flying skills competition released in 2014 shows that the Mi-4 is still in limited service in North Korea.[5]

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. V for Vooruzhenniy (Armed). Mi-4A with additional armament. Modification of 1967 had weapons complex K-4V, included four 9М17М ATGM "Phalanga" and 96 57-mm NAR S-5M in six blocks UB-16-57U (or six 100-kg bombs or four 250-kg bombs or tanks with an incendiary substance); 185 helicopters were converted to Mi-4AV.[6]

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)

Anti-submarine warfare helicopter with searching radar station SPRS-1 ("Kurs-M"), hydroacoustic station "Baku", additional fuel tank and rescue boat with operator in under-fuselage gun turret.[7][8]

Mi-4ME

Export modification of Mi-4M.[8]

Mi-4VM

Slightly modified version of Mi-4M, differed by some avionics system.[9]

Mi-4MR

Upgraded version of Mi-4VM with the searching radar station "Rubin-V" instead of "Kurs-M".[9]

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.

 Afghanistan

• Afghan Air Force[10]

MI-4 in Riga aviation museum

 Albania

Since 1957, 22 Mi-4 Hound A have been imported. After severing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1967, Japan imported 37 Chinese-made Z-5s.

• Albanian Air Force[10]

 Algeria

• Algerian Air Force[10]

 Bangladesh

• Bangladesh Air Force[11]

People's Republic of Bulgaria

• Bulgarian Air Force[10]
• Bulgarian Navy[12]

 Cambodia

• Cambodian Air Force[13]

 China

• People's Liberation Army Air Force[13]

 Cuba

In 1961 and 1974, 85 Mi-4 Hound A were imported.

• Revolutionary Armed Forces[13]

 Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovakian Air Force[13]

 East Germany

A Mil Mi-4 at Belgrade Aviation Museum

• East German Air Force[14]
• East German Navy[15]
• Lufthansa[15]
• Interflug[15]

 Egypt

• Egyptian Air Force[14]

 Finland

• Finnish Air Force[14]

Hungarian People's Republic

• Hungarian Air Force[16]

 India

• Indian Air Force[16]

 Indonesia

• Indonesian Air Force[16]
• Indonesian Army[17]

 Iraq

• Iraqi Air Force[16]

 Khmer Republic

• Khmer Air Force[13]

Laos

• Royal Lao Air Force[18][19]

 Laos

• Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force[18]

 Mali

• Mali Air Force[20]

Mil Mi-4 of the Finnish Airforce

 Mongolia

• Mongolian Air Force[21]

 North Korea

• North Korean Air Force[22]

Polish People's Republic

• Polish Air Force[23]
• Polish Navy[23]

Socialist Republic of Romania

• Romanian Air Force[23]

 Somalia

• Somali Air Corps[24]

 Soviet Union

• Aeroflot[25]
• Soviet Air Force[23]
• Soviet Navy[26]

 Sudan

• Sudanese Air Force[23]

 Syria

a Hungarian Mi-4

• Syrian Air Force[27]

 Vietnam

• Vietnam People's Air Force[27]

 North Yemen

• North Yemen Air Force[27]

 Yugoslavia

• Yugoslav Air Force[22]

Mil Mi-4 3-view drawing

Data from www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/mi-4-specs.htm

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 or 2
• Capacity: 16 troops or up to 1,600 kg (3,527 lb) of cargo
• Length: 16.8 m (55 ft 1 in)
• Height: 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in)
• Empty weight: 5,100 kg (11,244 lb)
• Gross weight: 7,150 kg (15,763 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 7,550 kg (16,645 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov ASh-82V 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,250 kW (1,680 hp)
• Main rotor diameter: 21 m (68 ft 11 in)
• Main rotor area: 346.4 m² (3,729 sq ft)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 185 km/h (115 mph, 100 kn)
• Range: 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,000 ft)
• Disk loading: 41 kg/m² (8.4 lb/sq ft)
• Power/mass: 0.21 kW/kg (0.13 hp/lb)

Related development

• Harbin Z-5

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Sikorsky H-19
• Sikorsky H-34
• Westland Wessex

• Bill Gunston, An Illustrated Guide to Military Helicopters, Salamander Books Ltd, London 1981. ISBN 978-0861011100
• Bob Ogden, Aviation Museums and Collections of The Rest of the World, UK: Air-Britain 2008. ISBN 978-0-85130-394-9
• Kenneth Conboy with James Morrison, Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos, Boulder CO: Paladin Press, 1995. ISBN 978-1-58160-535-8
• "Pentagon Over the Islands: The Thirty-Year History of Indonesian Military Aviation". Air Enthusiast Quarterly (2): 154–162. n.d. ISSN 0143-5450.

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The initial version of this article was based on material from aviation.ru. It has been released under the GFDL by the copyright holder.