Indonesian Army Receives New Russian Mi-35M Attack Helicopters

The Indonesian Army has received new Russian Mi-35M helicopter gunships, with images circulated on social media on September 3 providing a first look at the new aircraft. The Army currently operates the Mi-35P, an older variant of the aircraft, which has long formed the core of its combat aviation capabilities. The Mi-35M is one of the most extensively modernised derivatives of the Mi-24 family. Developed by Russia’s Rostvertol, it combines the basic heavily armoured assault-transport and attack-helicopter configuration of the Mi-24 with substantial changes to its propulsion, avionics, flight systems and weapons configuration. 

One of the most clear differences is the cannon installation. Indonesia’s Mi-35Ps use the GSh-30K 30mm twin-barrel cannon mounted rigidly on the side of the forward fuselage, requiring the helicopter itself to manoeuvre in order to bring the weapon onto a target. The Mi-35M instead uses a chin-mounted NPPU-23 turret incorporating the GSh-23V twin-barrel 23mm cannon, allowing the weapon to be aimed independently over a significantly wider arc. The Mi-35M also incorporates a number of changes intended to improve its flight performance and reduce weight. Its main rotor uses composite blades, while the tail rotor adopts the distinctive X-shaped configuration associated with the newer Mi-28 attack helicopter. 

The Mi-35M’s avionics and night-fighting capabilities also represent a significant improvement over earlier variants. The aircraft is compatible with night-vision systems and incorporates a modern electro-optical system, allowing its weapons to be employed more effectively at night and in poor visibility. This gives the Mi-35M capabilities much closer to those expected of a modern attack helicopter while retaining the Mi-24 family’s ability to transport troops and equipment.

Russia is currently the only country producing three separate types of heavyweight attack helicopters simultaneously, namely the Mi-35, Mi-28 and Ka-52. Unlike the other two types, the Mi-35 is not a clean sheet post-Cold War design, but a heavily modernised variant of the Mi-24 which not only has superior combat capabilities, but can also function as a helicopter gunship with limited personnel transport capabilities. Eleven foreign countries have acquired MI-35s since the type began to be offered abroad in the early 2000s, with over 180 having been exported. Belarus is the most recent new operator, and began receiving the aircraft in early 2023. 

The latest Mi-35M variant began deliveries to Russian Army Aviation in 2011, and alongside new avionics and an up-rated Klimov VK-2500-02 engine it borrows significant features from the new generation specifically the Mi-28 including use of an X-shaped low-noise tail rotor. The performance advantages this provides pair well with its new main rotor hub and composite blades. Alongside the Mi-24P, the Mi-35 remains the closest counterpart in Russia to modernised Apaches in NATO fleets, albeit still in a league below the Mi-28 and Ka-52 particularly in terms of their armaments and flight performances. The aircraft has been extensively combat tested in the Ukrainian theatre, and seen an increasingly diverse range of armaments integrated.