Mi-8MT Hip (Mi-17)
The second-generation Hip — TV3 engines, a left-side tail rotor and the export name Mi-17 · First flight 1975 · In service 1977
The Mi-8MT married the Mi-8 airframe to the more powerful Klimov TV3-117 turboshafts, rotors and transmission of the Mi-14 naval helicopter, with structural changes for heavier loads. Two prototypes were converted from Mi-8Ts at Kazan in 1975, series production began in 1977 and the first batch of 15 was built in 1978.
It is easy to tell from the original Hip: the tail rotor moved to the left (port) side, the engine cowlings are shorter, dust shields sit in front of the intakes and an auxiliary power unit is fitted behind the main rotor. In Soviet and Russian service it stayed the Mi-8MT; for export it was shown in 1981 under the name Mi-17, which has its own page in this catalogue.
The MT led to the improved Mi-8MTV with uprated engines and a higher ceiling, put into production at Kazan in 1988, and to the Ulan-Ude-built Mi-8AMT (Mi-171). Croatia flies Mi-8MTV-1s for transport, firefighting and NATO's KFOR mission in Kosovo.
