Mil-18 hip weapon system question

[General Pain]

HOW much and what kind of weapon systems can be fitted ?

Are there any specific limits ?

[Eddie]

Straight from the official OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide...

Weapon & Ammunition Types
2x 7.62-mm or 1x 12.7-mm MG

Other Loading Options
AT-2C or AT-3 ATGMs x 4-6

57-mm rocket pods (16 each) x 4-6

80-mm rocket pods (20 each) x 2

250-kg bombs x 4

500-kg bombs x 2

12.7-mm MG pod x 2

Twin 23-mm gun pods x 2

Additional fuel tanks (liters) x 1,830

[Eddie]

Originally Posted by General Pain

Are there any specific limits ?

Weight (kg):
Maximum Gross: 12,000
Normal Takeoff: 11,100
Empty: 6,990

[General Pain]

..a 20mm vulcan is out of the question...got a player asking for this...well...it's never out of the question, just very very dangerous and risky...

[Grimace]

I've seen a variety of listed loads for this thing. Basically, it's the Russian version of the UH-1 in that they've used it for just about everything.

The combat versions I've seen can have:

4000 kg slung on 6 hardpoints -
to include --
80 S-8 unguided rockets (in 20-shot pods)
40 S-8 unguided rockets/2 GSh-23L gun pods w/250 rounds per weapon
8 guided missiles / 40 S-8 unguided rockets
8 guided missiles / 2 GSh-23L gun pods
4 heavy guided missiles / 40 S-8 unguided rockets
8 guided missiles / 4 heavy guided missiles


Most times they throw external fuel tanks on the inner most hardpoints in order to keep the range of the helicopter up after throwing all the extra weight on it. But in quick and dirty runs, they could put extra weaponry on the innermost hardpoints as well.

And considering the Soviets put the twin 23mm gun pod on it, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to slap a 20mm vulcan gun on one of the hardpoints. Might increase the weight when you add in the ammunition for it (as it's going to go through ammo really fast) but a good enough mechanic should be able to work it.

Oh yeah, and the combat versions of the Hip also mounted a 7.62mm PKT in the nose and one in the rear, as well as a mixture of door mounted weaponry IN ADDITION to the weapons slung on the hardpoints. So even if they couldn't figure out how to mount a vulcan cannon on the hardpoint, they could probably get their hands on a smaller version and mount it on the door swivel mount like was occasionally done with the UH-1 in Vietnam. Hope that helps.

[General Pain]

insightful
much appreciated.

[pmulcahy11b]

I've heard of some Soviet/Russian helicopters being equipped to drop bombs. I would have to assume the bombs that a helicopter would drop would have to be retarded bombs (the kind where large fins pop out when dropped to induce a large amount of drag to enable the aircraft to get out of the blast zone). Those kinds of fins can usually be added to bombs as a kit.