Mi-8AMTSh — The Battle Bus

The Mi-8AMTSh is an upgraded attack variant of the Mi-8. It is equipped with a wide variety of weapons, ranging from extremely precise guided missiles such as the lethal 9M114 Shturm ATGM and the agile 9M39 Igla MANPAD to unguided ordinance like the compact S-8KO rocket and the massive FAB-500 bomb. The helicopter was also fitted with a large amount of countermeasures which can be helpful in some situations, despite the lack of an RWR, MAWS and LWS.

Air-to-Air Capabilities

Despite being a helicopter, the Mi-8AMTSh is quite potent at dealing with air targets. While the helicopter's internal 7.62mm MG may be... underwhelming, the weapons that it can carry on its external pylon are on par with ground based AA systems.

• 9M39 Igla — A 10G all-aspect IR homing missile with IRCCM. Despite it being only 10G, due to the relatively low speed of the missile it is able to perform much tighter turns than other missiles with similar overload. Its rocket motor burns for the majority of its flight time meaning that it is able to maintain its maximum overload for the majority of its flight.
• GSh-23L — A 23mm dual barrel autocannon featuring a firerate of 3400 rounds per minute mounted inside a gunpod. This is the same cannon mounted on most 2nd gen and 3rd gen Soviet jet aircraft, featuring a hard hitting HE round with a high rate of fire. This gun is also quite similar to the main armament of the ZSU-23-4 and ZSU-23-2.
• GUV-8700 — This pod combines two GShG-7.62 7.62mm rotary barrel machineguns with a firerate of 6000 rounds per minute and the YaK-B 12.7mm rotary barrel machinegun with a rate of fire of 4500 rounds per minute. This gunpod can easily deal with enemy helicopters that decide to get too close but its relatively low damage output compared to autocannons can make it a less than ideal choice when engaging fixed wing aircraft.

Air-to-Ground Capabilities

The Mi-8AMTSh offers a wide variety of weapons meant to destroy ground units, similar to other Soviet helicopters at its rank. However, the main advantage of this helicopter over the rest is the way its pylons are wired, being able to carry all of its ATGM without having to sacrifice any for gunpods or AAM. One disadvantage of this helicopter compared to NATO ones is the poor zoom of the optics, being only 10x maximum. Despite that, it is still possible to accurately guide missiles from their maximum range with some practice. The arsenal of this helicopter is massive but the following are the most useful and potent munitions it can carry.

• 9M114 Shturm — High velocity SACLOS ATGM. This missile is significantly faster than any of its NATO counterparts, allowing for significantly faster attacks. It is equipped with a HEAT warhead that can penetrate 560mm of armor and has an HE-F penetration of 37.5mm meaning that even a non-penetrating hit can result in a kill from the overpressure created.
• FAB-500 — A 500kg general purpose bomb. With 340kg of TNT equivalent it is able to destroy even the most armored ground vehicles if it lands close enough.
• S-8KO — An 80mm AT rocket. It is equipped with a powerful HEAT warhead capable of penetrating 420mm of armor and has almost 1.4kg of TNT equivalent that makes overpressuring light and open top targets significantly easier compared to the earlier S-5K rockets found on earlier Soviet helicopters.

Flight Performance

The Mi-8AMTSh features no significant differences in performance over its earlier models, being incredibly heavy and hard to maneuver but despite its weight it is still able to reach high speeds of over 300kph in level flight. However this helicopter does have a fatal flaw, similar to most other Soviet helicopters in the form of uncontrollable rolling to the right at high speeds. When trying to pull out of a dive in this helicopter, it is important to stay below 250kph otherwise it will roll to the right on its own which can result in a crash.

Survivability

The survivability of this helicopter is rather poor, lacking any form of warning systems as well as electronic countermeasures. Regardless, the helicopter is equipped with 128 countermeasures which can be lifesaving if you are able to detect an enemy missile launch in time. The helicopter is also well armored, having multiple steel plates ranging from 8mm to 16mm thick protecting the pilot as well as the engines. In addition to that, the fuel tanks are placed quite far apart from each other and are self sealing, equipped a with neutral gas pressurization system that will help stop fuel fires but also allow for the loss of more than one fuel tank before running out of fuel.

Gameplay

This helicopter is a very capable at ground attack, being able to outrange IR based SAM systems while also being able to defend itself from enemy air threats. Its primary playstyle in Ground Battles includes staying at around 3km away from the center of the battlefield to minimize the risk of enemy ground based IR missiles and utilizing the 9M114 Shturm to take out enemy ground vehicles.

In case there are multiple enemy aircraft over the battlefield, it is advised to remain at low altitude and use terrain, buildings and trees as cover. Peeking over the trees and firing off missiles is the best approach to a situation like this, avoiding being exposed for too long to avoid being spotted. In case you get spotted, try to get into a position that is going to be hard for the enemy to attack, that is the last thing you can do in a situation like that since your flight performance does not allow for any other than the most basic evasive maneuvers.

In Helicopter Battles, it is possible to use the same loadout as in ground battles but there are viable alternatives such as carrying a full payload of bombs and napalm and destroying bases or carrying a full load of rockets and destroying more ground units while sacrificing the accuracy of the 9M114 Shturm at taking out the AA guarding them. If that proves to be an issue, it is possible to take only one ATGM pod in the place of one S-8KO pod. The 9M39 is also a great choice, allowing you to take out enemy AI aircraft with ease and granting a decent amount of RP and SL.

Conclusion

While this helicopter can carry a very similar loadout to top-tier helicopters, carrying both ATGM and AAM, it is still a heavy transport helicopter. Its poor flight performance can make it difficult to evade enemies or navigate in some environments and its lack of any warning systems significantly reduces survivability. In addition, in classic Soviet helicopter fashion, it features only a 10x zoom, making guiding missiles near their maximum range difficult, requiring some additional skill in long-range shots. Despite all that, it is still a very capable helicopter, being able to take out multiple ground targets as well as air targets with relative ease.