ahhh yes… "non-standard" programs. Kind of like the weird cousin you only see sporadically at holidays.

https://armyaviationmagazine.com/delive ... apability/ and plenty of other references for the interested.

That's been going on for years... Over 35 years ago I was involved in a program at good ole' Fort Rucker, Alabama. In their fleet of test helo's were some interesting birds, including some with model designators that started with "MIL"... Very interesting machines indeed.

As an avionics guy I enjoyed seeing their wiring looms covered in hand-stitched leather sheathing. Very labour-intensive but it sure provided excellent abrasion protection.

About 30 years ago, I was a young engineer providing tech support for a USMC AN/TPS-59 radar at the ASCIET joint forces exercise in Gulfport, MS. My hotel was literally across the street from KGPT, where many participating aircraft were temporarily based. One morning at dawn, I walked out of the hotel to see a Mi-24 about to lift off. I thought I was either seeing things or it was a Hollywood fake. After the morning briefing, I inquired about the Hind and found out it was very real. It had been “liberated” from a Soviet client state, evaluated by US agencies and the DoD, and later was used in training exercises for greater realism. By the time I saw it, its use by US forces was no longer classified.

Greg

Some thirty plus years ago I worked with a Russian female on our SAR team. She was an author/writer AIR…very intelligent, pretty tough and driven. At the time, I was involved in a fair amount of civilian external/internal helo work, sometimes with military equipment. When she moved on, I got a big hug and request something like “ Eric, promise me you won’t work out of a Russian helicopter.” I was and remain pretty ignorant of them but I stated they had developed some really cool designs with great performance stats. She said ‘the design is fine, but their safety depends on what day of the week they were constructed or maintained.’

That summation always stuck with me, but I have no ability to comment on its accuracy.