The Mi-4 was designed in response to the American H-19 Chickasaw and the deployment of U.S. helicopters during the Korean War.

The helicopter was first displayed to the outside world in 1952 at the Soviet Aviation Day in Tushino Airfield.

It was widely used both in the armed forces and in Soviet civil aviation, and for several decades remained the main type of helicopter in the inventory of the Soviet Armed Forces and of the Civil Air Fleet.

The Mi-4 was the workhorse of the Indian Air Force[5] covering the medium lift role at the time.

Much like the UH-1 Huey, after it was gradually phased out of military service, it was used in various domestic roles: search and rescue, firefighting, polar expeditioning, construction site cargo helicopter, commercial flights and many others.