Well, you did write Mi-8/17/171 which are three different helicopter series. There are multiple variants of the general NATO 'Hip' designator with dash letters after 'Hip', -A, -C, -D, -K, etc. Just to confuses it more, Russia puts the 17 and 171 variants under the Mi-8 category, notwithstanding NATO. I believe the Sh versions feature an electro optic sight and radar, and can be armed.
Russia did not build all versions, just to add more confusion. The Mi-171 was an export equivalent of the Russian Mi-8AMT built by Ulan-Ude and the Mi-172/Mi-8MTV-3 were export equivalents of the Mi-8AMT built by Kazan, both of the Russian Federation. Further, there were update programs.
I expect the 'stealth' aspects of operator, SerNo, etc are of military purpose. Who is an enemy? is the question they wish to portray, my bet. I share your concern.
My information shows at least 43 different countries have operated the NATO 'Hip' versions, including Armenia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Slovak Republic, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela to just give an alphabetic smattering.
