In studying the possibilities of helicopter design and the experience of other countries, Mikhail Leontyevich Mil came to the conclusion that a well-armed and armored battle helicopter was required to increase the mobility of the Soviet Army. It had to be capable of transporting cargos and paratroopers – a kind of flying armored car. In contrast to the American army, in which troop transport helicopters operated with cover from assault helicopters, Mikhail decided to create a vehicle that could handle both these tasks on its own. The engineers at the Mil design bureau already had considerable experience in developing helicopters, and had performed several experiments in transforming transport helicopters into assault helicopters. This meant that after military officials approved the concept of an assault-transport helicopter, the team immediately got to work. In the summer of 1969, literally a year after the work had begun, the Mil engineers presented a prototype for testing.

The first version of the Mi-24 already had the characteristics and features familiar to all fans of military vehicles found in the later series-produced versions, the Mi-24B and the Mi-24D. The characteristic silhouette for which the Mi-24 was dubbed “Hind”, two TVZ-117 turboshaft engines, retractable landing gear, a cargo bay for paratroopers and wings for mounting weaponry. However, there were differences also. The tail rotor on the Mi-24A was placed on the right – it was only moved to the left side in 1974. A single cabin was mounted on the Mi-24A with a flat glass, a so-called “Veranda” in which the armament operator and the pilot could sit one behind the other with a slight offset. The main difference was the armament. By the time the Mi-24 was created, the weaponry that the military demanded for the new helicopter – modern Shturm ATGMs with an advanced aiming kit, and a rapid-firing machine gun for the rotating nose turret – was not yet ready. The first versions of the Mi-24 were equipped with the Falanga-MV ATGM with manual aiming, the single-barrel A-12.7 in a turret with limited mobility on the nose with a simple collimator sight, and unguided rockets or up to 1000 kg of bombs on the wing hardpoints. Officially, the Mi-24A was never accepted into service, although quite a lot of the vehicles were built – along with the training versions, over 240 in total. The Mi-24A was exported, and took part in military operations in Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Libya.