Based at Cerklje AB, Mi-8s of 780th Transport Helicopter Squadron – including the example 12406 shown here – were some of the first machines of the RV i PVO to see action during the war in Slovenia. On 27 June, they transported paratroopers of 63rd Parachute Brigade and Federal Police and Customs officers to the international border crossings to Austria and Italy. Initially unarmed, because of expectations that there would be no threat, later the same day they began deploying Soviet-made UB-16-57 pods for 57mm S-5K unguided rockets. Another helicopter from the batch was 12408, shot down late on 27 June 1991. As of 1991, the entire Mi-8 fleet of the RV i PVO was painted in grey-green overall, with undersurfaces of the cabin and the boom in light blue. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)