Intended for air support of the ground forces units by fire at enemy combat equipment (including armor materiel) and manpower, heliborne assault party Landing, as well as for evacuation of the wounded from a battlefield. The heLicopters are designed around a conventional single-rotor configura­tion with a tail rotor and retractable tricycle nosewheel type landing gear. The pilot and the weapon operator are seated in tandem cockpits under indi­vidual canopies.

The Mi-24's distinguishing feature is its cabin which can accommodate eight airlanding troopers. The helicopter is powered by two TV3-117VMA turboshaft engines with air intakes equipped with dust-proof devices to protect the powerplant from erosive wear when operating from unprepared sites. The helicopter is furnished with an auxiliary power unit for autonomous operation.

To enhance the helicopter combat survivability, provision is made for:

• crew cockpit armoring;
• porous fuel tank filler;
• fuel tank self-sealing covers;
• firefighting equipment;
• infrared suppression exhaust mixer boxes over engine exhaust ducts;
• redundancy and backup of hydraulic and electric power sources and main control circuits.

The outboard wing panels are equipped with six hardpoints for weapon suspension. Since the beginning of the Mi-24's full-scale production (1970), the fol­lowing modifications have been man­ufactured:

• Mi-24P, equipped with a 30mm built-in fixed gun mount;
• Mi-24D (its export version Mi-25), equipped with the Falanga ATGM sys­tem and a 12.7mm built-in flexibly mounted machine gun;
• Mi-24V (its export version Mi-35), equipped with the Shturm ATGM system and a 12.7mm built-in flexibly mounted machine gun;
• Mi-24VP, armed with the Shturm ATGM system and a 23mm built-in flexibly mounted gun with ammunition load of 470 rounds.

All the Mi-24 family helicopters (including their export versions) are armed with unguided rockets, podded machine guns, grenade launchers and guns, and are equipped with surveillance and aiming, flight control and navigation, radio communications and other equipment enabling the pilot and the pilot-operator to execute flight control navigation and sighting missions.

The onboard equipment enables the crew to fly the helicopter in the daytime and twilight in VFR weather conditions.

The helicopters can be operated from poorly prepared natural-surfaced sites virtually in any physical and geographical environment. The Mi-24VM version (its export version Mi-35M) features the following:

• the helicopter is equipped with a main rotor fitted with glassfiber blades unified with those of the Mi-28N, a hub requiring no lubrication, and a Low-noise X-shaped tail rotor;
• the airframe is lightened (the wing is shortened, non-retractable landing gear is used, etc.);
• the armament system is complemented with the Ataka air-to-ground and Igla air-to-air missiles;
• the helicopter is additionally equipped with a computer complex and a laser rangefinder. The updated avionics ensures round-the-clock combat employment of the Mi-35M helicopter.

The Mi-35M's armament versions are as follows:

• four Ataka and two Igla missiles, 40 S-8 unguided rockets;
• 16 Ataka missiles, 40 S-8 unguided rockets;
• 16 Ataka missiles, ten S-13 unguided rockets;
• eight Igla missiles, 40 S-8 unguided rockets;
• eight Igla missiles, ten S-13 unguided rockets;
• 80 S-8 unguided rockets;
• 20 S-13 unguided rockets.