Soviet Helicopters
Considerable budgets were allocated to design bureaus, of which two main manufacturers emerged as world's champions, by production end exports: Mil and Kamov, with Yakovlev as challenger. So the landscape of Soviet manufacturers was reduced, but not the amazing qualities of the model developed over 50 years. Like in other areas, Soviet authorities favored bold approaches and innovative, risky solutions, or pushed the limits as far as possible. With the Mi-6, Mi-10 (crane), two-stage and rotors Mi-12, or Mi-26 all broke all records and kept them until today. This was largely also a question of prestige, something the aircraft industry was always keen to put forward and be instrumentalized in USSR since 1925. Other aspects led to military records as well. When released, the Mi-24 "Hind" was arguably the fastest and best armed helicopter in the world, while the Mi-8 "Hip" stays to this day the most produced in history or the Kamov "Hokum", the most agile.
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