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Mil Mi-14, the Russian Sub Hunting Helicopter That Can Land on Water

The cars produced by the USSR all look like copies of the Chevrolets and Cadillacs. That could be because all the original ideas the Soviets had back then went into killing machines. Here's one you probably never heard of, the Mil Mi-14, designed to be used as a land-based submarine hunter.
Mil Mi-14 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
That's not a big deal – the Americans and British also built sub hunters. However, the Mi-14 is different because its hull looks and works like a boat. Yes, it can land in the middle of the ocean.

How cool is that? If all helicopters worked like this one, it would be impossible to make all those movies where people crash in the middle of the ocean or are killed because they run out of fuel.

The Mil Mi-14 takes off from land, being able to stay in the air for up to 2 hour at an operational radius of 222 kilometers (120 nautical miles). It has conventional landing craft, but upon takeoff this is retracted safely into the body.

As for the offensive part, this helicopter's single major mission was to carry a single torpedo or eight depth charges inside a watertight weapons bay. Some civilian versions were also created, but the Mi-14 is a very rare bird, with only 230 examples ever built.

Rumor has it that NATO was so scared of this sub hunter that it pressed the Yeltsin administration to stop production in the 90s. Why? It was effective in combat and could also carry the "Scalp" atomic bomb that had the capacity to destroy any sub within a 1-kilometer blast area. Of course, Russia isn't as friendly as it used to be, and various reports suggested that production is going to be restarted.

Just to give you an idea of the scale this Russian beast is built on, its rotor is 21.3 meters in diameter (70 feet), and it weighs 14 tons. The two turboshaft engines that were located at the top of the body produced the equivalent of 3900 horsepower (2,908 kW). However, it's worth noting that the Americans and British also have helicopters that can land in the water. Prince William actually pilots one, unless we're mistaken.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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