Mi-2 helicopters in the Polish military aviation (part 2)

Mi-2 helicopters in Polish military aviation. Two reconnaissance launches of the Mi-2R. A clearly visible box under the rear tail boom, which houses the aircraft's camera. Photo by Adam Golombek

At the same time, the largest number of Mi-2s served in 1985 - 270 units. In 43, 2006 units remained in service. As of January 82, 31, the state of the Mi-2016 in the aviation of the Polish Armed Forces was as follows ...

In parts of the Ground Forces

Mi-2 helicopters are used in several versions: combat (in three versions), reconnaissance, command, chemical, transport and training. Their tasks include fire support for troops on the battlefield, reconnaissance and adjustment of artillery fire, visual, image and chemical-radiological reconnaissance, smoke and transport-associated flights. In addition, they are used for training. The Mi-2 is the main equipment of the 49th Air Base (BL) in Pruszcz-Gdanski and the 56th Air Base in Inowroclaw (1st Aviation Brigade of the Ground Forces). Theoretically, these multi-purpose helicopters complement the Mi-24 combat aircraft. However, in practice, due to the fact that the Falang and Sturm anti-tank missiles had to be removed from the Mi-24 weapons due to the loss of the resource, the latter in practice are an addition to the Mi-2. Armed with guided missiles "Baby". This situation will continue until the new combat helicopters acquired under the Kruk program enter service.

Rescue on land

Mi-2 helicopters also serve as part of search and rescue teams in Svidvin (1st PSO), Minsk-Mazovetsky (2nd PSO) and Krakow (3rd PSO). These are independent air military units designed for search and rescue operations on land in the Republic of Poland and in the border areas of neighboring countries. They perform rescue duties in the national air rescue system. They all have much more modern W-3 Sokół helicopters in the air rescue version (W-3RL), so the much older Mi-2 is used to increase the flight time and maintain the skills of the flight and specialized personnel. Their decommissioning is a matter of time, because some units will turn 40 this year! (554507115, 554510125, 554437115). Despite this, the Mi-2 is still being repaired. In 2015, unit 554437115 underwent a major overhaul, which gives it another 10 years of operation. After the Mi-2 resource is exhausted, it is not planned to replace decommissioned vehicles of this type with other helicopters. The pilots of these parts will only perform their tasks on the W-3rl Sokół until they acquire new equipment from the point of view of quality, as provided for in the “Plan for the Technical Modernization of the Polish Armed Forces”.

In service at sea

Basically, the Mi-2RM marine rescue service ended in 3 years with the arrival of the W-1992RM Anaconda helicopters (2002-2) to the Naval Aviation. However, four Mi-31RM remained in the state of naval aviation. The last helicopter in this version ended service on March 2010, XNUMX.