# (Why) Are U.S. forces using Russian helicopters?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-u-s-forces-using-russian-helicopters/165043>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 29, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-u-s-forces-using-russian-helicopters/165043 "2003-03-29T16:58:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-u-s-forces-using-russian-helicopters/165043/21 "2003-03-30T04:10:41Z")

</div>

There seem to be two different questions, here.

1. What is the purpose of the “eagle” helicopter (and who is using it?

2. Are there Hinds (or other Warsaw Pact choppers) assisting in the current Iraqi war?

Given the Hungarian markings and the architecture of the buildings behind it in the photo (I agree with **censored** that those buildings are more likely European than Afghani), I would say that the photo is of some Hungarian public relations chopper. All the stuff about “American” or “Afghanistan” is simply pasted into the web page with no reason to believe that is has anything to do with the chopper. (Remember the “photo” of the shark leaping out of the water at the guy hanging from a ladder off a Blackhawk under the Golden Gate bridge, last year? The internet has turned altering and mislabeling photos into a cottage industry.)

I would think that several former Warsaw Pact countries who are part of the coalition have probably provided their own helicopters. These could be for relief or resupply or combat: they are participating (at various levels) in all aspects of the war. (Unlike Haliburton, Sikorsky and Bell probably can’t demand a piece of the action by insisting only their equipment is used.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![censored](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-u-s-forces-using-russian-helicopters/165043/22 "2003-03-30T04:55:10Z")

</div>

An analogous situation to people saying that this helicopter is in Afghanistan is the sequence of video frames of an APC in Chechnya being blown up. I _believe_ that the video was actually of Chechen rebels blowing up a Russian APC with a remote-controlled mine, but the sequence has made its way around the Internet with various captions like “US forces bloawing up Taliban APC!!!111” “Taliban blaowing up US forces APCX!!!111” when in fact it wasn’t Afghanistan at all.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-u-s-forces-using-russian-helicopters/165043/23 "2003-03-30T06:29:53Z")

</div>

Looks like **tomndebb** may have nailed the country of origin right. [This site](http://mh87.jetfly.hu/english.php3) , although incomplete, shows it as a Hungarian helicopter.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-u-s-forces-using-russian-helicopters/165043.md?page=1)