Mil Mi-28

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"Mil Mi-28 Country of origin. Russia Type. Two seat attack helicopter Powerplants. Two 1545kW (2070shp) Klimov TV3-117VM turboshafts driving a five blade main rotor and four blade tail rotor. Performance: Max speed 300km/h (162kt), max cruising speed 270km/h (145kt). Max initial rate of climb 2675ft/min. Service ceiling 19,020ft. Hovering ceiling out of ground effect 11,820ft. Ferry range with reserves 1100km (595nm), max range with standard fuel 460krn (250nm). Combat radius with standard fuel, 10min loiter and reserves 200km (110nm). Endurance with max fuel 2hr. Weights. Empty equipped 8095kg (17,845lb), max takeoff 11,660kg (25,705lb). Dimensions. Main rotor diameter 17.20m (56ft 5in), length exc rotors 17.01 m (55ft 9in), height to top of rotor head 3.82m (1 2ft 7in). Main rotor disc area 232.3M2 (2501sq ft). Accommodation., Navigator/weapons operator and pilot in stepped tandem cockpit with navigator in front cockpit. A rear fuselage compartment can accommodate two or three people - intended for emergency recovery of personnel only. Armament., One NPPU-28 30mm cannon in undernose turret. Four underwing hardpoints can carry a combined ordnance load of 1920kg (4230lb). Typical configuration of two rocket pods and up to 16 913149 Shturm C (AT-6'Spiral') radio guided tube launched anti armor missiles. Operators. Russia* History: Maneuverable, well armed, armored and fast, the Mi-28 is Mil's first dedicated two seat attack helicopter and is in competition with the Kamov Ka-50 to meet Russian army requirements. Design of the Mi-28 (NATO reporting name 'Havoc') began as early as 1980 and the first of three prototypes flew for the first time on November 10 1982. Development of the basic Mi-28 is now largely complete with only a small number built for service evaluation. The Mi-28 has tandem stepped cockpits with energy absorbing crew seats, an undernose turret containing a 30mm cannon, stubwings with two hardpoints each and twin TV3 turboshafts (the TV3 also powers the Ka-50, plus Mil's Mi-1 7 and Mi-24). The original three blade tail rotor unit has been replaced by a four blade X shape unit, similar to that on the AH-64 Apache. The cockpits feature ceramic and titanium armor, while the entire airframe is designed to absorb and survive small arms fire. Countermeasures are carried in the wingtip pods. The thimble nose radome contains a missile guidance radar, beneath are two fixed infrared sensors. The Mi-28N is an improved night/all weather development featuring a mast mounted millimeter wave radar, a FUR ball turret under the nose radome, a low light TV, night vision compatible cockpit lighting, uprated 1838kW (2465shp) for takeoff TVS-1 17VK turboshafts and swept main rotor tips. First flight was on April 30 1997. Production aircraft would be to Mi-28N standard."

(source: International Directory of Military Aircraft 1998-1999)

MOSKOVSKY VERTOLETNY ZAVOD IMIENI M L MILYA AOOT (Moscow Helicopter Plant named for M L Mil JSC)

ROSTVERTOL - ROSTOVSKY VERTOLETNYI PROIZVODSTVENNYI KOMPLEKS OAO `ROSTVERTOL' (`Rostvertol' Rostov Helicopter Production Complex JSC)

MANUFACTURER DETAILS

ulitsa Novatorov 5, 344038 Rostov-na-Donu Tel: (+7 8632) 31 74 93 Fax: (+7 8632) 45 05 35 e-mail: rostvertol@rost.ru

Director General: Boris N Slyusar Deputy Director General: Yuri Zaikin Deputy Director-General, Marketing and Sales: V Dyatlov Chief Engineer: I Semyonov

The company now known as Rostvertol was founded on 1 July 1939, and began by manufacturing wooden propellers. It progressed to aircraft production during the Second World War and to helicopter work in the mid-1950s. Past products at Rostov-on-Don included the UT-2M (1944), Po-2, Yak-14 glider, Il-10M, Il-40, Mi-1, Mi-6, Mi-10 and Mi-10K. Rostvertol is wholly privately owned. Government decree of 19 February 1996 authorises Rostvertol to export spares and auxiliary equipment for Mil Mi-24 and Mi-25; and to export new Mi-26, Mi-28 and Mi-35 helicopters, as described in the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant entry. Production in 1999 included one Mi-26 delivered to the Moscow fire brigade for water-bombing and rescue duties. Mi-26 supplied to Mexican Air Force in January 2000 and second ordered in following April. Rostvertol also active in helicopter overhaul and upgrading. However, independent export sales authorisation rescinded 23 July 1999, and Rostvertol exports now made through official Russian agencies. Company has exported 650 aircraft.

MIL Mi-28 NATO reporting name: Havoc

Type Attack helicopter.

Programme Design started 1980 under Marat N Tishchenko; first of two flying Mi-28 prototypes (012) flew 10 November 1982; each prototype different: first and second (022) had upward-pointing exhaust diffusers and fixed undernose fairing for electro-optic equipment; first also had conventional three-blade tail rotor; second replaced this with the definitive `Delta-H' configuration. The first Mi-28A (032) introduced the definitive downward-pointing exhaust suppressors and flew in January 1988; second Mi-28A prototype (042) demonstrated at Moscow in 1992 and represented the intended production configuration. It had the definitive moving E-O sensor turret undernose, downward-pointing exhaust diffusers and wingtip electronics/chaff dispenser pods; small-scale pre-series production planned, but not yet initiated, by Rostvertol, Rostov-on-Don. Rival Ka-50 officially `adopted' 5 October 1994, but competition then continued; final decision was due by early 2001.

Current Versions Mi-28: First two prototypes with 1,434 kW (1,923 shp) TV3-117BM engines and VR-28 gearbox. Mi-28A (Type 280): Basic version, as described in detail. Third and fourth aircraft built. Mi-28N: Unofficial names: Night Hunter and Night Pirate. Added night/all-weather operating capability. Russian Army funding announced January 1994; demonstrator (014) modified from first Mi-28 prototype (012); first hover 14 November 1995; formal roll-out 16 August 1996; first flight 30 April 1997. Mast-mounted 360є scan millimetre wave Kinzhal V or Arbalet radar (pod soon enlarged in vertical plane); FLIR ball beneath missile-guidance nose radome and above new shuttered turret for optical/laser sensors, including Zenit low-light-level TV. EFIS cockpit. Armament to include 9M114 Shturm (AT-6 `Spiral') ASMs and Igla (SA-16 `Gimlet') AAMs. Uprated TV3-117VK turboshafts, each 1,839 kW (2,466 shp) for T-O; strengthened transmission; new composites rotor with sweptback blade tips added subsequently. Mi-28N introduced uprated VR-29 transmission and IKBO integrated flight/weapon aiming system, with automatic terrain-following and automatic target search, detection, identification and (in formations of Mi-28Ns) allocation. Weights and performance generally unchanged though similarly rated TV3-117VMA-SB3 engine is now undergoing evaluation and will be accompanied by rotors of improved aerodynamic configuration. In 2000, further two Mi-28Ns reportedly under construction at Rostvertol. Versions projected for naval amphibious assault support and air-to-air missions. Mi-28NEh: (Noch, Ehksport: Night, Export): Version of above offered to South Korea in 2000.

Costs Mi-28N development cost US$150 million (2000); unit cost US$12+ million (2000).

Design Features Conventional gunship configuration, with two crew in stepped cockpits; original three-blade tail rotor superseded by low noise `scissors' or `Delta-H' type comprising two independent two-blade rotors set as narrow X (35є/145є) on same shaft with self-lubricating bearings; resulting flapping freedom relieves flight loads; agility enhanced by doubling hinge offset of

main rotor blades compared with Mi-24; survivability emphasised; crew compartments protected by titanium and ceramic armour and armoured glass transparencies; single hit will not knock out both engines; vital units and parts are redundant, widely separated and shielded by the less vital; multiple self-sealing fuel tanks in centre-fuselage enclosed in composites second skin, outside metal fuselage skin; no explosion, fire or fuel leakage results if tanks hit by bullet or shell fragment; energy absorbing seats and landing gear protect crew in crash landing at descent rate of 12 m (40 ft)/s; crew doors are rearward-hinged, to open quickly and remain open in emergency; parachutes are mandatory for Russian Federation and Associated States (CIS) military helicopter aircrew; if Mi-28 crew had to parachute, emergency system would jettison doors, blast away stub-wings, and inflate bladder beneath each door sill; as crew jumped, they would bounce off bladders and clear main landing gear; no provision for rotor separation; port-side door, aft of wing, provides access to avionics compartment large enough to permit combat rescue of two or three persons on ground, although it lacks windows, heating and ventilation. Hand crank, inserted into end of each stub-wing, enables stores of up to 500 kg (1,100 lb) to be winched on to pylons without hoists or ground equipment; current 30 mm gun is identical with that of RFAS army ground vehicles and uses same ammunition; jamming averted by attaching twin ammunition boxes to sides of gun mounting, so that they turn, elevate and depress with gun; main rotor shaft has 5є forward tilt, providing tail rotor clearance; transmission capable of running without oil for 20 to 30 minutes; main rotor rpm 242; with main rotor blades and wings removed, helicopter is air-transportable in An-22 or Il-76 freighter.

Flying Controls Hydraulically powered mechanical type; horizontal stabiliser linked to collective; controls for pilot only.

Structure Five-blade main rotor; blades have very cambered high-lift section and sweptback tip leading-edge; full-span upswept tab on trailing-edge of each blade; structure comprises numerically controlled, spirally wound glass fibre D-spar, blade pockets of Kevlar-like material with Nomex-like honeycomb core, and titanium erosion strip on leading-edge; each blade has single elastomeric root bearing, mechanical droop stop and hydraulic drag damper; four-blade GFRP tail rotor with elastomeric bearings for flapping; rotor brake lever on starboard side of cockpit; strong and simple machined titanium main rotor head with elastomeric bearings, requiring no lubrication; power output shafts from engines drive main gearbox from each side; tail rotor gearbox, at base of tail pylon, driven by aluminium alloy shaft inside composites duct on top of tailboom; sweptback mid-mounted wings have light alloy primary box structure, leading- and trailing-edges of composites; no wing movable surfaces; provision for countermeasures pod on each wingtip, housing chaff/flare dispensers and sensors, probably RWR; light alloy semi-monocoque fuselage, with titanium armour around cockpits and vulnerable areas; composites access door aft of wing on port side; swept fin has light alloy primary box structure, composites leading- and trailing-edges; cooling air intake at base of fin leading-edge, exhaust at top of trailing-edge; two-position composites horizontal stabiliser.

Landing Gear Non-retractable, tailwheel type; single wheel on each unit; mainwheel tyres size 720Ч320, pressure 5.40 bars (78 lb/sq in); castoring tailwheel with tyre size 480Ч200.

Power Plant Two Klimov TV3-117VMA turboshafts, each 1,636 kW (2,194 shp), in pod above each wingroot; three jetpipes inside downward-deflected composites nozzle fairing on each side of third prototype shown in Paris 1989; upward deflecting type also tested. Deflectors for dust and foreign objects forward of air intakes, which are de-iced by engine bleed air. Internal fuel capacity 1,720 litres (454 US gallons; 378 Imp gallons). Provision for four external fuel tanks on underwing pylons.

Accommodation Navigator/gunner in front cockpit; pilot behind, on elevated seat; transverse armoured bulkhead between; flat non-glint tinted transparencies of armoured glass; navigator/gunner's door on port side, pilot's door on starboard side.

Systems Cockpits air conditioned and pressurised by engine bleed air. Duplicated hydraulic systems, pressure 152 bars (2,200 lb/sq in). 208 V AC electrical system supplied by two generators on accessory section of main gearbox, ensuring continued supply during autorotation. Low-airspeed system standard, giving speed and drift via main rotor blade-tip pitot tubes at -27 to +38 kt (-50 to +70 km/h; -31 to +43 mph) in forward flight, and ±38 kt (±70 km/h; ±43 mph) in sideways flight. Main and tail rotor blades electrically de-iced. Ivchenko AI-9V APU in rear of main pylon structure supplies compressed air for engine starting and to drive small turbine for preflight ground checks.

Avionics Comms: UHF/VHF nav/com; small IFF fairing each side of nose and tail. Instrumentation: Conventional IFR instrumentation, with autostabilisation, autohover, and hover/heading hold lock in attack mode; pilot has HUD and centrally mounted CRT for basic TV; aircraft designed for use with night vision goggles. Mission: Radio for missile guidance in nose radome. Daylight optical weapons sight and laser range-finder in gyrostabilised and double-glazed nose turret above gun, with which it rotates through ±110є; wiper on outer glass protects inner optically flat panel. Self-defence: Two fixed IR sensors on initial basic production Mi-28; IR suppressors, radar and laser warning receivers standard; optional countermeasures pod on each wingtip, housing chaff/flare dispensers and sensors, probably RWR. Mi-28N has integrated Vitebsk DASS with Pastel RWR, Mak IR warning system, Platan jammer and UV-26 flare dispensers.

Equipment Two slots, one above the other on port side of tailboom, for colour-coded identification flares. Three pairs of rectangular formation-keeping lights in top of tailboom; further pair in top of main rotor pylon fairing.

Armament One 2A42 30 mm turret-mounted gun (with 250 rounds in side-mounted boxes) in NPPU-28 mount at nose, able to rotate ±110є, elevate 13є and depress 40є; maximum rate of fire 900 rds/min air-to-air and air-to-ground. (New specially designed gun under development.) Two pylons under each stub-wing, each with capacity of 480 kg (1,058 lb), typically for total of sixteen 9M114 Shturm C (AT-6 `Spiral') radio-guided tube-launched anti-tank missiles and two UB-20 pods of eighty 80 mm S-8 or twenty 122 mm S-13 rockets or two UPK-23-250 gun pods. Alternative ATMs include 9M120/9M121F Vikhr and 9A-2200; up to eight 9M39 Igla-V AAMs in place of ATMs; in minelaying role can carry two KGMU-2 dispensers. Main 2A42 gun fired and guided weapons launched normally only from front cockpit; unguided rockets fired from both cockpits. (When fixed, gun can be fired also from rear cockpit.)

Dimensions, External

Main rotor diameter 17.20 m (56 ft 5 in)

Main rotor blade chord 0.67 m (2 ft 2Ѕ in)

Tail rotor diameter 3.84 m (12 ft 7ј in)

Tail rotor blade chord 0.24 m (9Ѕ in)

Length overall, excl rotors, incl gun

17.01 m (55 ft 9Ѕ in)

Fuselage max width 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)

Width over stub-wings 4.88 m (16 ft 0ј in)

Height: overall 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in)

to top of rotor head 3.82 m (12 ft 6Ѕ in)

Wheel track 2.29 m (7 ft 6ј in)

Wheelbase 11.00 m (36 ft 1 in)

Areas

Main rotor disc 232.35 m2 (2,501.0 sq ft)

Tail rotor disc 11.58 m2 (124.65 sq ft)

Weights and Loadings

Weight empty, equipped: 28 7,900 kg (17,416 lb)

28A 8,095 kg (17,846 lb)

28N 8,590 kg (18,938 lb)

Fuel weight: standard internal 1,337 kg (2,947 lb)

with added tanks 1,782 kg (3,928 lb)

Normal T-O weight: 28 10,200 kg (22,487 lb)

28A 10,400 kg (22,928 lb)

28N 10,700 kg (23,589 lb)

Max T-O weight: 28 11,200 kg (24,691 lb)

28A, 28N 11,500 kg (25,353 lb)

Max disc loading: 28 48.2 kg/m2 (9.87 lb/sq ft)

28A, 28N 49.5 kg/m2 (10.14 lb/sq ft)

Performance

Max level speed: 28A 162 kt (300 km/h; 186 mph)

28N 172 kt (320 km/h; 199 mph)

Max cruising speed: 28A 143 kt (265 km/h; 164 mph)

28N 145 kt (270 km/h; 168 mph)

Max rate of climb at S/L 816 m (2,677 ft)/min

Service ceiling: 28A 5,800 m (19,020 ft)

28N (-SB3) 5,700 m (10,700 ft)

Hovering ceiling OGE: 28 3,470 m (11,380 ft)

28A, 28N 3,600 m (11,820 ft)

28N (-SB3) 4,500 m (14,760 ft)

Radius of action, standard fuel, 10 min loiter at target, 5% reserves

108 n miles (200 km; 124 miles)

Range, max standard fuel, 10% reserves: all 234 n miles (435 km; 270 miles)

Ferry range, 5% reserves 593 n miles (1,100 km; 683 miles)

Endurance with max fuel 2 h

g limits +3/-0.5

(source: Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2001-2002)