Familiarisation of the Characteristics, Ammunition,Weapons Systems and PKV Collimating Sight of the Mi-8MTV2

(Disclaimer: There is little information about the weapons and munitions the DCS Mi-8MTV2 employs at this stage, I am using real world data for weapons characteristics and tab data. Some of which is contradictory depending on what source you believe).

1. In this tutorial you will be familiarised with Weapon Systems, Ammunition, Characteristics, and the PKV sight of the Mi-8MTV2 Helicopter. (Operation of the weapons is the next tutorial I am planning, if it was included in this tutorial the size of this presentation would become onerous) .

2.The reason you need to know these systems is so that you can utilise the weapon systems to provide fire support and effective fire to those missions and friendly troops that need it and are relying on your fire to help win the battle. In this tutorial I have written the range of the weapon as Max Effective Range. This is because a lot of weapons can fire at longer ranges , but cannot be aimed or controlled to hit where you want them to effectively. Max Effective Range is the range where those munitions are lethal at best using the weapons characteristics and systems to achieve that.

3.The Mi-8MTV is not a purpose built Gunship, it has no armour but is effective at supporting friendly troops with its large array of fire-power and as a combat troop transport aircraft.

4.At the end of this tutorial you will have a better understanding of the weapons, munitions and sight used by the Mi-8MTV.

Weapons Available

1.The DCS / Belsimtek Mi-8MTV2 is equipped with 6 external hard-points ( 3 each side) that can be loaded with the following weapon systems: a. B-8V20A rocket pod with 4 types of 20 S-8 80mm unguided rockets.b.UPK-23-250 gun pod armed with the twin-barrel Gsh-23, 23mm cannon.c.The following bombs:1)FAB-100 HE,
2)FAB-250 HE, and
3)FAB-500 HE .

d.GUV-8700 gun pod, which includes two variants: (1)9-A-800: single 30mm automatic grenade launcher, and (2)9-A-624/622: one 12.7mm and two 7.62mm four-barrel Gatling machines guns in a single pod.

Weapons Available cont

3.The hard-points are numbered 1 6 left to right ( facing forward from the cockpit). Not every hard-point can support every weapon type.4.Not much information about the DCS / Belsimtek sim weapons characteristics. I am relying mostly on info from other sources at this stage.

B-8V20A Rocket Pod

B8V20A rocket pod1.20-round rocket pod fires the S-8 unguided 80mm rocket. The Mi-8MTV2 can carry up to six pods.2.The unguided, fin-stabilised S-8 measures between 411 - 6 long, depending on the version.

3Types Available in DCS are:a.S-8KOMHigh Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) Range of 1.3 to 4 kmb.S-8OFP2Anti-Pers / Soft targetRange of 1.3 to 4 kmc.S-8OM Illumination round, 30 Second burn Range of 4 to 4.5 km d.S-8TSMWP/Smoke Used for target marking Range of 1.3 to 2 km

UPK-23-250
23mm Cannon Pod

1.The designation of UPK -23- 250 denotes that it uses a single, twin barrel 23mm Auto Cannon and carries 250 rounds of ammunition. The Mi-8MTV2 can carry up to 2.2.Ammunition comes in Ball and Tracer.

3.Cyclic Rate of Fire is 300 RPM,4.Maximum effective Range is 2000m,5.The 23mm rounds are effective against:a.Infantry,

b.soft skinned vehicles,

c.light armoured vehicles, and

d.light fortified buildings.

9-A-800 POD: SINGLE 30 MM AUTOMATIC GRENADE LAUNCHER

Contains a single 30 mm automatic grenade launcher -
the Mi-8MTV2 can carry up to 4.

Probable Max Effective Range maybe 1700m. It maybe
as little as 400m.

Rate of Fire 350 400 RPM.

Effective against :

a. Infantry in the open and area targets. Possibly the HE
round will have a lethal fragmentation radius of 2 to 3m. b. Light Skin vehiclesc. Good for supporting attacking troops low danger radius.

Ammunition type used HE fragmentation.

Ammunition Capacity not known, will have to count in game.

POD 9-A-624/622
12.7mm/7.62mm MG Pod


The Mi-8MTV2 can carry up to 2. The pod contains the following:



1.Single YakB-12.7mm four barrel machine gun . 2YakB-12.7mm four barrel machine gun is a gas operated, self-powered weapon which is in contrast with most other rotary guns (that are usually externally powered).a.Rate of Fire 4000 to 5000 RPMb.750 round capacityc.Max Effective Range Possibly 1000m

4.GShG-7.62mm four barrel machine gun:a.Rate of fire 6,000 RPMb.Muzzle velocity 820-850 m/sc.Max Effective range 1000 md. 1100 round capacity

Fugasnaya Aviatsionnaya Bomba (FAB) / High Explosive Aviation Bomb
(Available to DCS / Belsimtek Mi8-MTV2)

FAB-100TYPE: General-purpose bomb

WARHEAD: HE 45 kg GUIDANCE: Unguided WEIGHT: 100 kg 2.FAB -250TYPE: General-purpose bomb WARHEAD: HE 120 kg GUIDANCE: Unguided WEIGHT: 249 kg

3.FAB-500 M62 TYPE: General-purpose bomb WARHEAD: HE 240 kg GUIDANCE: Unguided WEIGHT: 506 kg4.The Mi-8MTV can carry 3 bombs on each wing.

The (PKV) Collimating Sight

Some of this information is taken from DCS Mi-8MTV2 Quick-start manual,
and DCS Forum members like Imp and Cibit. There is a reference to a
Flight Manual, however; as yet does not exist.

The (PKV) collimating sight is designed to provide aiming cues when employing
gun systems, unguided rockets, and bombs against targets within visual contact in
day and night time conditions, as well as to provide target range data. The sight is
positioned on the left side of the cockpit for use by the Pilot-Commander.

This is just a basic optical sight that allows the pilot
to set an approximate aim-point for Mi-8MTV2 weapons to fire
within 1km to 2 km. All of these weapons should be considered
'Area Weapons' as any closer to the enemy would be too dangerous to the
helicopter. Remember that the Mi-8 is not a gunship and has no armour.

The sight provides a scale (0 200 mils) that will adjust depression angle
to conform with the helicopters Longitudinal axis. The recommended
setting for depression is 70 to 80mils.

According to the sight diagram the sight consists of a centre aiming mark
with concentric circles measured outwards at diameters of 40, 120 and 200 mil
intervals. With lead lines at 0, 45, 90 135 and 180 degrees marked with reticles
at intervals of 10 mil.

How to use : 1 mil at 1000m (1 km) is equal to 1m. 1 mil at 2000m
is equal to 2m. So for example: 10mil reticle represents 10m at 1000m.

Calculating range: As a military pilot you should know the characteristics
of the enemy you are about to attack: Example: a BTR 90 is 7.6m long
(round off to 8m) at 1000m it will be 8 mils wide on your site. So looking
through the sight judge the width by knowing that the first lead mark is 10mil,
so 8mil is nearly as long as the first mark guestimate distance/range = approx
1000m. So through experience of knowing the fall of shot of the rockets, guns
and grenades applied to this sight at 1000m you can set up your shot and fire
accordingly.

Conclusion

I hope this tutorial helps you to familiarise yourselves with the Characteristics, Ammunition,Weapons Systems and PKV Collimating Sight of the Mi-8MTV2. As you can see that in Military aircraft there is much more to know than just being able to fly.My next tutorial will be how to operate and fire the weapon systems on board the Mi-8MTV2.Regards (C/229) Strut