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 an attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, better optimized than the Mil Mi-24 gunship for the role. It carries a single gun in an undernose barbette, plus external loads carried on pylons beneath stub wings.
The Mi-28N features a helmet mounted display for the pilot. The pilot designates 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.[13] Mil Mi-28 nose sensors
The night attack variant helicopter retains most of the structural design of the original 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.[13]
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 employ guided weapons or guns against the target. The targeting system follows the direction of the pilot's eyes.[13]
Russia's military rotary-wing aircraft fleet has been fully refitted with new night vision goggles (NVG). Mil Mi-28N attack helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) received GEO-ONV1-family NVGs.[14] Armament
The Mi-28 is equipped with a chin-mounted NPPU-28 turret with 30 mm automatic Shipunov 2A42 autocannon.[15] It has selective fire, and a dual-feed, which allows for a cyclic rate of fire between 200 and 800 rounds per minute.[16] Its effective range varies from 1,500 meters for ground vehicles to 2,500 meters for airborne targets. Rounds from High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) to Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) can be used. Stated penetration for the 3UBR8 round is 25 mm of RHA at 1,500 meters. Mil Mi-28 gun mounting
The standard missile armament of the Mi-28N is the supersonic 9M120 Ataka-V missile, which uses radio beam-riding guidance. Two racks can each carry 8 Ataka missiles, giving a total of 16 missile, although 8 Atakas is a more normal load.[17] 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), its stated penetrative ability is 800 mm Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA).[18] The 9M120F thermobaric variant is used against infantry, buildings, bunkers, and caves. The 9M120O expanding rod warhead variant is used against helicopters. All the variants have a range of 6 km. The 9M120M improved version has a longer range (8 km) and better penetration (900 mm of RHA).[19] All variants use SACLOS missile guidance.
Unguided weapons such as rockets can be carried on four pylons under the stub wings. Typical rockets carried are the 122 mm (4.8 in) S-13, fired from five-round B-13 rocket pods, and the 80 mm (3.1 in) S-8, fired from 20-round B8V-20 pods.[17] The S-8 and S-13 rockets used by the Mi-28 are usually unguided. In the most common configuration, one can expect 40 S-8 rockets or 10 S-13 rockets. Both rockets have their variants, from HEAT warheads to thermobaric warheads. The S-8 has a shorter range and smaller warhead than the S-13, but compensates with numbers. Currently, the Russian Air Force are upgrading their S-8 and S-13 rockets to laser guided missiles with the proposed Ugroza ("Menace") system. Rockets upgraded under Ugroza received the designations S-8Kor and S-13Kor, respectively.[20]
Poster Comment:
Wikipedia used as source. Russians seem to be engaging Ukrainians at a distance using artillery, air power and missiles to reach out and touch Ukrainians at a distance. Scott Ritter said the kill ratio is 10 to 1 in favor of Putin.