Great picture of an Iraqi Army Aviation Mi-35M of the 35th Attack Helicopter Squadron, nicknamed Knights of Sky.

The Mi-35 attack helicopters of Iraq are based at Taji air base, just north of Baghdad and assigned to the Combat Helicopter Wing (CHW). The helicopters are often forward deployed to support Iraqi ground troops in their fight against terrorism.

The CHW is also operating with Bell 407s (IA-407, T-407 and 407GX) assigned to the 21 Assault Helicopter Squadron as well as EC635T2s with the 55th Assault Helicopter Squadron and SA342M Gazelles with the 88th Assault Training Squadron.

The Bell 407 is also designated as IA-407 (Iraqi Army 407 and ARH-70 (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter).

This YI-370 is one of 28 Mi-35Ms the Iraqi Army Aviation once owned. At least six were written off or withdrawn from use after combat use. Some were shot down in the fierce battle, others were badly damaged, were able to return to base but were eventually cannibalized.  Scramble is assessing that some 50-60% of the original delivered number is still operational.

Photo by Iraqi MoD