Mi-8

The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name "Hip") is a Russian designed helicopter. The Mil Mi-17 was designed for the Soviet War in Afghanistan and is the basis for the Mil Mi-24 Hind. It appears in Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2: Special Forces.Many were sold to communist countries such as China, North Korea, Vietnam, etc.

Battlefield 2
The Mi-17 is the Middle Eastern Coalition's main transport helicopter. The Mi-17 can hold up to five players, 1 pilot, 2 door gunners and 3 passengers. It's counterparts are the American MH-60 Knight Hawk and the Chinese Jingdezhen Z-8.

Strategies
Like all Transport Helicopters, the Mi-17 should mainly be used to carry squad members or others into a combat zone. Its large carrying capacity can carry up to 5 passengers, enough to carry at least half of a squad. It is also quite resilient as well, as it can take many bursts of HMG and AA-gun fire before it goes down. However, this can be bypassed by the use of Surface-to-Air Missiles from Stationary and Mobile AA, Air-to-Air Missiles and cannon fire from Fighter Jets and Fighter/Bombers, and Rockets, Chaingun and/or AGMS from an opposing Attack Helicopter. These weapons can deal large amounts of damage to a Mi-17, enough for lesser threat weapons to finish it off.

Fighting a dogfight with an Mi-17, or any other Transport Helicopter, is not recommended, as the vehicle's slow speed, low maneuverability and considerably weak armament will make it an easy target for opposing aircraft that come into contact with it. However, it is possible to take out the opposing aircraft if one of the gunners shoots a well-aimed burst of Machine Gun fire at the cockpit of the other aircraft, which can kill the operator.

The Mi-17 is also great for offensives on bases that don't have much Anti-Air support, as the Mi-17's resiliency against small arms fire and its considerable speed can help to take out most of the infantry and soft targets in the area. With the 'funnelling' technique, gunners aboard the helicopter can effectively put suppressing fire on given targets.