Marines Want Contractor-Flown Russian Mi-24 Hind Helicopter Gunships At More Exercises - Mi-24 Hind.jpg ...

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....The U.S. Marine Corps is looking into whether a contractor might be able to
supply Mi-24 Hind gunship or Mi-17 Hip armed transport helicopters to add extra
realism to various exercises. Outside companies routinely provide these types of
helicopters to play mock enemies at a number of U.S. military training events,
but this kind of “adversary” support could become even more relevant as American
forces across the services refocus on preparing for high-end conflicts against
“great power” opponents, such as Russia.

....The Russian-made Mi-24 and Mi-17 are extremely popular among military and
paramilitary forces around the world, large and small, and are among the most
likely hostile helicopters Marines might face in any real-world conflict. The
massive Hind also has an often overlooked secondary troop-carrying capability in
addition to its array of forward-firing machine guns, automatic cannons,
rockets, and anti-tank missiles, making it a potentially more complex threat.
There is an additional potential option for the contractor to provide a single
An-2 Colt biplane – an obsolete, but still potentially dangerous platform you
can read about more in depth here – for the pair of TALONEXs, as well.

....It’s no surprise the Marine Corps wants these exercises to be as realistic as
possible in order to both prepare Marines for potential real-world combat
situations and to provide an accurate assessment of their skills. The so-called
“opposing force,” or OPFOR, is critical to providing this experience.

And private “red air” adversaries have been gaining traction as useful and
cost-effective dissimilar opponents for aerial warfare exercises for some time
and it makes sense to employ similar aggressors for air-and-ground training,
too. Contractor-operated Mi-24s and Mi-17s, such as Hinds from VTS Aviation in
Tacoma, Washington, have made regular appearances at WTI Course events, among
other training exercises, for more than a decade for exactly this reason. Having
this kind of support on call for more routine exercises can only help improve
the quality of training across the Corps.


more at
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...more-exercises



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