The Mi-28 (NATO reporting name of "Havoc") was a product of the Cold War designed as an anti-tank attack platform similar in nature to the American-produced AH-64 Apache series. Like the Apache, the Mi-28 featured an armored cockpit for its two occupants, an under-fuselage cannon and wingstubs for anti-tank munitions. The Mi-28 definitely has some design features of the Mi-24 "Hind" series, on which it is based on but is a more capable and dedicated anti-tank performer.
The Mi-28 system was on the drawing board by early 1980 and flew in head-to-head competition trials with the Kamov Ka-50 design. Though the eventual loser in the trials, the Mi-28 was still accepted for additional development and became life on the production lines by 1987 as the Mi-28A, being debuted in a Paris-based air show in 1989. Though production for the initial series did not last long, the system still continued appearing in variants that would include dedicated daytime combat versions and daytime/nighttime platforms. Through several more years the Mi-28 eventually superceded the Ka-50 as the standard Russian attack helicopter thanks to the post-Cold War world. The Mi-28 proved more adaptable to new battlefield requirements and was cheaper to produce, providing the edge that the system needed against its early rival.
The Havoc features a distinct elongated nose design which houses electronic equipment. The crew of two (pilot in rear with the gunner up front) sit in tandem in a fully armored cockpit. Power is derived from two Klimov-brand turboshaft engines driving a five-blade main rotor and a four blade tail rotor while generating some 1,950 horsepower each. Interestingly enough, with the classification of attack helicopter, the Mi-28 Havoc features additional passenger seating in a three-man crew compartment aft of the main cockpit. If anything, this serves moreso as a rescue feature for other down airmen than for the transporting armed combatants into battle. Standard armament is a single powered 30mm cannon in a chin mounting while wingstubs provide hardpoints for anti-tank missiles, rocket pods and gunpods.
Russia is the sole operator of the Mi-28 Havoc series, though an export version has been offered to North Korea. Though only some 10 or so Havocs are currently active in the Russian inventory, it is expected that at delivery's end in 2015, some 325 will be available to the air force.
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