The Czechoslovak Air Force ordered a fleet of 16 Mi-24Ds, which were delivered between 1978 and 1983. Due to Czechoslovakia’s proximity to the NATO border, it received a further 20 Mi-24Vs between 1985 and 1989, and the Plzen-Bory airfield became a front-line air base for Hind operations during any NATO/WarPac conflict until the end of the Cold War in 1991. After Slovakia gained independence in 1993, the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999.
By 2020, the Czech Air Force still operated a fleet of 15 Mi-24V and Mi-35 helicopters with the 221st Helicopter Squadron based at Náměšť nad Oslavou. They regularly participated in NATO exercises and had received limited upgrades from LOM Praha, including an AVS-9 NVG system. The squadron recently bid farewell to its remaining Hinds as the last two Mi-35 Hind-Es destined for delivery to the Ukrainian Armed Forces departed Náměšť nad Oslavou Air Base, to be replaced by four Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and eight UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters.
In March 1978, the Hungarian Air Force received its first of 30 Mi-24D Hind-D helicopters, equipping one regiment and a mixed Mi-8/Mi-24 unit based at Veszprém. Its fleet was later reinforced in 1993 by 14 Mi-24V helicopters, and six former East German Mi-24P helicopters donated by unified Germany. Hungary also joined NATO in 1999.
Its 86th Helicopter Base operated 12 Mi-24s at Kecskemét Air Base that were modernised in 2019 in Russia under a €70 million contract at the 419th Aircraft Repair Plant in St Petersburg. They were equipped with integrated GPS, instrument landing system (ILS), and NVG capability to give them another seven years of service, or 2,000 flight hours. They have been replaced by 16 Airbus Helicopters H145Ms equipped with HForce weapons management system, the first of which was delivered in 2020.
Poland’s Army Aviation Hinds will be the last NATO Mi-24s in service. More than a dozen have been donated to Ukraine, and its current fleet of 16 Mi-24V/Ps, four of which are configured for the CSAR role, are being replaced by the AH-64D Apache.
by David Oliver
