Tunisian Mi-24V Hind E

[comrade harps]

Millennium Helicopter Collective Mi-24V Hind E
a/c Yellow 07, In Memory of Martyr Sadok Sassi Aviation Battalion, 1st Division, Tunisian People's Liberation Army
9 September 1980, Battle of Tamanrasset, Algeria
Crew: Gunner Issam Jemâa, Pilot Aymen Mathlouthi and Flight Engineer Tarek Thabet



As the UN's authority in sub-Saharan Africa began to crumble in mid-1980, it became imperative for the Reds to mount an offensive from their positions across the northern Maghreb. Air and trade routes needed to be opened to provide the humanitarian aid, technical assistance, logistical support and stabilisation forces urgently needed by their comrades south of the Sahara. The Reds mounted Operation Bag Load to secure the Trans-Sahara Highway, and on 9 September, launched an airborne assault to capture the region around Tamanrasset.




The Battle of Tamanrasset was a set-piece confrontation. The town of Tamanrasset sits astride an ancient trade route that connects the Mahgreb with the sub-Saharan Sahel region. Nearby are key intersections, a handful of smaller towns and the Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok airfield. In 1980 the airbase was the UN's third most northerly military airfield in UN-occupied Algeria, only those at Bordj El Haouas and Idlès being further north. Heavily defended by infantry and armoured formations from Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger and Nigeria, the airfield featured extensive underground facilities, hardened aircraft shelters and a defensive shield of MIM-14C I-Nike Hercules and MIM-23B I-HAWK SAMs. In September 1980, Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok was home to a squadron each of Kenyan Mirage F.1CKs and Nigerian Air Force F-4E Phantom IIs and NF-5AM/NF-5BM MLU Freedom Fighters, plus Ethiopian OV-10D Broncos, helicopters and transports from several more countries. The airfields further north were mostly used by the Broncos, choppers and transports, with flights of fighters detached from Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok for QRA.



Operation Bag Load required near-simultaneous assaults on Tamanrasset, Bordj El Haouas and Idlès. Between the Red's northern Mahgreb stronghold and the UN's forward position lay the Sahara. Some of the desert's remote towns were tenuously occupied by the UN, some by the Reds and many were what the Geneva Conventions refer to as "non-defended localities" (open cities) that collectively formed a de facto neutral zone. To cross the Sahara from the Mahgreb unmolested by UN airpower, the Reds launched an airfield suppression campaign against Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok and heavily jammed and attacked UN radar and communications as a prelude to Bagload. These efforts enabled a large force of helicopters and fixed-wing transports, escorted by fighters, to cross the Sahara with little attention. Along the way, temporary refuelling stations were established, the Hind and Hip helicopters being flown by ferry crews. The ferry crews handed over to the combat crews at forward arming and refuelling stations (FARPS) on the night of 8-9 September.



Gunner Issam Jemâa, Pilot Aymen Mathlouthi and Flight Engineer Tarek Thabet took their mount, Yellow 07, into battle at dawn. Their task was to isolate Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok from the garrisons down the road at Tamanrasset while airborne troops flown in on Hips assaulted and captured the airfield. To reach the airbase, UN forces from Tamanrasset had to traverse a barren valley floor flanked by hills; just one road connected the town to the airfield. The first UN vehicles to appear were FWDs and trucks, which were subjected to gun and rocket fire by the Hinds. Later came the armoured fighting vehicles, including M113 APCs and M60A1 tanks. The Hinds used their 80mm S8 rockets, fired from 20 round B-8V20A pods, and 9K114 Shturm AT6 Spiral anti-tank missiles to engage these threats. Rotating to and from the battlefield and their FARPS, the Hind crews, supported by Fitters, Floggers and Hips, drove off each UN thrust. It wasn't all one way, but by nightfall, the airfield had been secured and the UN forces beaten back into the shelter of the town. The fighting continued for three more days before the UN commander, surrounded and unable to elicit relief forces, surrendered his troops.

[zenrat]

 

[NARSES2]

That looks good 

[DogfighterZen]

I like that, looks very good.

[drmrhonda580]

  Like it !! which kit did you use ?

[comrade harps]

Like it !! which kit did you use ?

1/72nd Italeri Hind E. 

[zenrat]

Like it !! which kit did you use ?

1/72nd Italeri Hind E. 

Also released in a Tamiya box.

[drmrhonda580]

Hi, looking at the mil-24 again, the paint is real sharp, very nice. What paint do you use ?

[comrade harps]

Hi, looking at the mil-24 again, the paint is real sharp, very nice. What paint do you use ?

Thank you for your comment and for asking about the paints. I mostly use Humbrol enamels, but on this, I went all pale with Tamiya's XF-14 JA Grey, XF-55 Deck Tan and XF-60 Dark Yellow.