The Mi 24 can't hold a title a few more years when it hasn't held the title in the first place. The AH-1 was the superior gunship until the Apache came along. Right now I'd rate the Mi 24 as being in dead last place in comparison to other dedicated gunships being made around the world. It's got a decent cruise speed but 20 or 30 knots additional airspeed doesn't really add any practical dimension to gunships, or tactical helicopter flight for that matter. And, the Mi 24 definately does not handle like a fighter. The "crew compartment" was made for Munchkins and proved to be woefully inadequate for transporting combat troops but that's a moot point since carrying troops is irrelevant to gunships. I could go on and on and on but there's no point in it really. In terms of appearance the Mi 24 is my top pick, but performance wise it's a dinosaur who's design was barely plausible 25 years ago.
umair, when I was assigned to my first unit many years ago we had plenty of Vietnam era vets still around, several of whom "tutored" me in the ways of becoming an old pilot. There's a saying, "There's bold pilots, and there's old pilots, but there are no old bold pilots" and it's quite true. Anyway, the the forms of tactical flight are 1. NOE (Nap of the Earth) 2. Terrain Flight. NOE is performed at airspeeds of less than 40 knots, and the aircraft is flown as low to the ground as possible. You go around obstructions etc the main idea being to keep the aircraft as far below the horizion as possible. Terrain flight is performed and I quote from my old FM " As fast and as low to vegetation and obstacles as conditions permit". That means your flying at cruise airspeeds and above while staying as close to the terrain as possible. You select the lowest average terrain features ie rivers, draws, valleys etc. The old Vietnam era pilots absolutely hated NOE flight for 2 reasons: 1. During NOE flight helicopters are operating in the region of flight where successful autorotations are very nearly impossible to accomplish and 2. You are low and slow, not good when there are bad guys around.
The gunships adopted the NOE mode as their standard tactical flight mode because it was easier for them to identify and neutralize targets. Much engineering went into the Apache for example so that it would be easy to hover since that was the optimal platform setup for Hellfire shots. So that's how they've been doing it for years. Old tactics for an old enemy, the US Army is setup to fight a legitmate armed force, not the rag pickers they've been engaging in Iraq and Afghanistan. The gunships therefore have been routinely low and slow in Iraq which has made them easy targets for the rebels. Finally, they have begun to see the error of their ways and the army has recognized that NOE flight should be avoided, particularly over cities. It's frustrating that it's taken them that long to officially recognize this but anyone that's served will attest that changing something like basic tactics comes about very very slowly.
