Theft of two Mi-24 helicopters in Pakistan (1985)

Since the helicopter of this model was of extreme interest to the United States, soon after the arrival of the Mi-24 in Afghanistan, the American side promised a reward for the hijacking of the helicopter at least $ 1 million for providing the helicopter in working condition ^[1] .

July 13, 1985 (Saturday) two armed with the eyeballs of the Mi-24D Armed Forces DRA with air guns and machine guns with full ammunition , ORO , NURS and URVP units on external sling , equipped with special electronic equipment for flying in the mountains, flying out to perform a combat mission on the implementation of the intelligence and the elimination of the rebel formation of Afghan mujahideen on the flat terrain in the border province of Khost by bombing an assault on a cluster of rebels, were hijacked by the Afghan Itzeri (both graduates of Soviet flight schools, in connection with which, in some sources, they are mistakenly referred to as “Soviet” or “Russian” officers) ^[2] to neighboring Pakistan , landing in Miranshah . In total, that day, including pilots, seven Afghan soldiers flew to Pakistan in two helicopters, all natives of Paktia ^[3] . Pilots and other crew members requested political asylum , which was granted to them ^[4] .

On July 14, in the evening news broadcast, Kabul official radio announced that the helicopters had “lost their course” and landed in Pakistan “by mistake”. On July 15, the DRA government demanded the immediate return of helicopters and crews. Pakistan's Chargé d'Affaires in DRA was called to the DRA Foreign Ministry to present him with an official government note. According to the Mujahideen field commander Yunus Khales , the crew members were in contact with him before the flight, and the escape itself was a planned action, the defectors intended to join the ranks of national resistance against the Soviet occupation of the country ^[5] .

The indicated incident was a very big success for the United States (partly even more important than the hijacking of the MiG-25 fighter V.I. Belenko in 1976), since this was the first case of hijacking a helicopter of this model. As the New York Times wrote, for the first time a Soviet helicopter of this type landed on the territory of the military-satellite country of the West, ^[3] everything else fully armed, which allowed American specialists to study in detail the Soviet attack helicopter, its armament and avionics, and also to find out its vulnerabilities (for example, technical solutions to reduce the exhaust temperature of engines and reduce the thermal contrast of the helicopter, the knowledge of which made it possible to introduce appropriate technical e adjustments to the ICGSN of their own aviation and anti-aircraft missiles and adapt infrared guidance systems for air defense missiles and missile systems to combat the support of ground forces by Soviet helicopter aircraft). ^[6] Both helicopters were equipped with a screen-exhaust device to reduce the visibility of the machine in the infrared range - before this case, Soviet aviation equipment of this kind did not fall into the hands of Western experts ^[7] . In this regard, according to the Far Eastern Economics Review, criminal negligence was committed by those Soviet officials who were aware of the statistically predetermined tendency of Afghans to desertion from collaborationist units (by then more than two-thirds of all Afghans who had fled had already fled weapons), allowed the advanced weapons and military equipment to fall into the hands of potential defectors ^[4] .

Since modifications of the helicopter for operations over the flat terrain were still of interest to the United States, the editor-in-chief of the magazine “ Soldier of Fortune ” Jim Pate lobbied for the publication of a number of magazine publications in large-circulation publications with the headlines “Steal this Russian super-helicopter and get a million bucks!”, - One million US dollars was promised to any military pilot from the USSR, East Germany , Nicaragua or Cuba , who would decide to hijack the Mi-24. Leaflets of the following content were distributed in Central and South America in the areas where the helicopter units were located: “Wanted: Soviet attack helicopter Mi-24D, intact and in working condition. Remuneration: $ 1,000,000. " ^[eight]