Mil Mi-8

Mil Mi-8
	Mil Mi-8 of Baltic Airlines taking off at Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg
Role	Transport helicopter (also several armed versions)
National origin	Soviet Union/Russia
Manufacturer	Kazan Helicopter Plant; Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant
Design group	Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant
First flight	7 July 1961
Introduction	1967
Status	In service
Primary users	Soviet Union; Russia; Indian Air Force (historical); ; ca. 80 other countries, see Operators below
Produced	1961–present
Number built	>17,000 and production continues today; world's most-produced helicopter
Variants	Mil Mi-8M/Mi-17
Developed into	Mil Mi-14; Mil Mi-24;

The Mil Mi-8 (Russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. It is now produced by Russia.^{[not verified in body]} In addition to its most common role as a transport helicopter, the Mi-8 is also used as an airborne command post, armed gunship, and reconnaissance platform.

The Mi-8 is the world's most-produced helicopter,^[1] with over 17000 units used by over 50 countries. As of 2015, when combined with the related Mil Mi-17, the two helicopters are the third most common operational military aircraft in the world.^[2]

^ Air Force Magazine. Air Force Association. July 2015. p. 66. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
^ "Strength in numbers: The World's Top 10 military aircraft types". Flightglobal.com. Reed Business Information Limited. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

[1] Air Force Magazine. Air Force Association. July 2015. p. 66. Retrieved 25 August 2023.

[2] "Strength in numbers: The World's Top 10 military aircraft types". Flightglobal.com. Reed Business Information Limited. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

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