Russian Military Mi-28 helicopter RIVAL to US military AH 64 Helicopter

Great video of the Russian military Mi-28 attack helicopter which is seen as a rival of the US military AH-64 attack helicopter the Mi-28 will be great for boosting Russian Military power. The Mil Mi-28 (NATO reporting name "Havoc") is a Russian all-weather, day-night, military tandem, two-seat anti-armor attack helicopter. It is a dedicated attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, better optimized than the Mil Mi-24 for the role. It carries a single gun in an undernose barbette, plus external loads carried on pylons beneath stub wings.

Role Attack helicopter
National origin Soviet Union/Russia
Manufacturer Mil
First flight 10 November 1982[1]
Introduction 15 October 2009 (Mi-28N)[2]
Status In service[3]
Primary users Russian Air Force
Kenya Air Force
Iraq Air Force
Produced 1982–present
Number built 126[4]
Unit cost
US$15–16 million (2002)

Design
The Mi-28 is a new-generation attack helicopter that functions as an air-to-air and air-to-ground partner for the Mi-24 Hind and Ka-50 Hokum. The five-blade main rotor is mounted above the body midsection, and short, wide, tapered, weapon-carrying wings are mounted to the rear of body midsection. Two turboshaft engines in pods are mounted alongside the top of the fuselage with downturned exhausts. The fuselage is slender and tapers to the tail boom and nose. It features a tandem, stepped-up cockpits and a cannon mounted beneath the belly, with non-retractable tricycle tail-wheel type landing gear. This energy-absorbing landing gear and seats protect the crew in a crash landing or in a low-altitude vertical fall. The crew is able to survive a vertical fall of up to 12 m/s. The Mi-28 has a fully armoured cabin, including the windshield, which withstands impact by 7.62 and 12.7mm bullets and 20mm shell fragments.[12]

The helicopter design is based on the conventional pod and boom configuration, with a tail rotor. The main rotor head has elastomeric bearings and the main rotor blades are made from composite materials. The tail rotor is designed on a biplane configuration, with independently controlled X-shaped blades. A new design of all plastic rotor blades, which can sustain hits from 30mm shells, has been installed on the Night Havoc Mi-28N helicopter.

"Havoc" is equipped with two heavily armored cockpits, a windshield able to withstand hits from 12.7–14.5 mm caliber bullets, in nose electronics, and a narrow-X tail rotor (55 deg), with reduced noise characteristics. It is powered by two 2,200 hp Isotov TV-3-117VM (t/n 014) turboshaft engines.

While the Mi-28 is not intended for use as a transport, it does have a small passenger compartment capable of carrying three people. The planned purpose of this is to enable the rescue of downed helicopter crews.

The Mi-28N features a helmet mounted display for the pilot. The pilot would designate targets for the Navigator/Weapons Officer, who proceeds to fire the weapons required to fulfill that particular task.The integrated surveillance and fire control system has two optical channels providing wide and narrow fields of view, a narrow-field-of-view optical television channel, and laser rangefinder. The system can move within 110 degrees in azimuth and from +13 to -40 degrees in elevation.[12]

The Night Havoc helicopter retains most of the structural design of the Mi-28. The main difference is the installation of an integrated electronic combat system. Other modifications include: new main gearbox for transmitting higher power to the rotor; new high-efficiency blades with swept-shaped tips; and an engine fuel injection control.[12]

The pilot uses a helmet-mounted target designator, which allocates the target to the navigator's surveillance and fire control system. The navigator/weapons officer is then able to deploy guided weapons or guns against the target. The targeting system follows the direction of the pilot's eyes.[12]

Armament[edit]
The Mi-28 is equipped with a chin-mounted 30 mm Shipunov 2A42 autocannon. The cannon is select fire, and has a dual-feed, which allows for a cyclic rate of fire between 200 rounds per minute to 550 rounds per minute. Its effective range varies from 1500 meters for ground vehicles to 2,500 meters for air targets. Rounds from High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) to Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) can be used. Stated penetration for the 3UBR8 is 25 mm of RHA at 1,500 meters.

One common Mi-28 armament are a pair of 8 Ataka missile racks along with 2 B-13L rocket pods, each able to carry 5 S-13 rockets. Other rocket options include two B-8 rocket pods, each able to carry up to 20 S-8 rockets.

There are four variants of the Ataka missile for different tasks. The 9M120 Tandem High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead variant is used against tanks fitted with Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA),