During the 7th International Maritime Defence Show ( IMDS 2015), which is being held in St. Petersburg from 1 to 5 July 2015, Russian H...
The Mi-14 was a Soviet shore-based nuclear-capable amphibious anti-submarine helicopter derived from the earlier Mi-8T, developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and produced by Kazan Helicopters from 1973 to 1986, both enterprises now part of Russian Helicopters.
This helicopter can significantly expand the range of search and rescue operations for the emergency services, and can also be operated by the Navy.
The Mi-14 was in service with the Navy and also operated commercially in Bulgaria, Cuba, East Germany, Ethiopia, Libya, Syria, Vietnam, Yemen, and Yugoslavia. Today these helicopters are in service with the Polish Naval Aviation.
The main design distinction is that they boast hermetically sealed boat bottoms, instead of traditional helicopter undercarriages, enabling them to land on water. The sides are fitted with floats for stability, which also support the retractable landing gear.
A watertight weapons bay is fitted to the centreline of the fuselage allowing internal carriage of a single torpedo or eight depth charges, while a radome housing a search radar is fitted beneath the nose.
The helicopter was required to have an endurance of 2 hours on station at a radius of 222 kilometres (138 mi) from base.
The Mi-14s other systems were also adapted for marine use, and numerous technical solutions developed for it later found application in Mi-8/17 helicopters, such as the Mi-8MT and its export variant Mi-17.
The once feared submarine killer could carry a 1 kiloton antisubmarine nuclear bomb weighting 1,600kg, capable of pulverizing any underwater target, especially U.S. Navy subs, within a radius of 800 meters.
After the collapse of Soviet Union, the fleet was decommissioned following high level U.S. pressure.
