Combat aircraft

contract was finalized for the sale of 42

Mi-28NEs to Algeria in 2013. It was not the

only foreign customer of the Mi-28UB —

Iraq also ordered four Mi-28UBs alongside

its 15 Mi-28NEs.

The Iraqi Army Aviation Corps began

receiving Mi-28NEs in August 2014, and

its first two Mi-28UBs were delivered later

that year. Unlike the Algerian Mi-28UBs

that arrived in 2016, the Iraqi Mi-28UBs

did not have the N025E radar (the export

version of the N025) installed in the

spherical fairing on the main rotor hub.

Unlike Algeria, Iraq intended to operate

these ‘Havocs’ exclusively for training.

Despite being equipped with dual

controls, the Mi-28UB has no difference

in combat capability compared to

the Mi-28N. Installation of the second

collective and cyclic in the front cockpit

led to an increase of 5.5in (14cm) in

the width of the front cabin and minor

changes to its shape. Furthermore, the

‘sandwich’ armor is removed from the

lower part of the front cockpit door, on

the left-hand side of the fuselage. This

had been operated by the 344th Army

Aviation Training Center at Torzhok. Its

individual identity was ‘37 Yellow’ (c/n

34012840201). It was completed in July

2013 and was visited in the Rostvertol

factory by President Vladimir Putin. The

reworked ‘37 Yellow’ was shown to the

public at Rostov-on-Don on August 9,

2013. Days later it was transferred to

Zhukovsky, where it took part in the

MAKS 2013 airshow.

The main driver behind development

of the Mi-28UB had been the Algerian

Air Force’s need for a training version

of the Mi-28NE. ‘37 Yellow’ served as a

demonstrator for Algeria before it became

‘1811 Yellow’ — the factory test Mi-28UB.

This effort was successful and a $2.7-billion

Above: The

cockpit of the

Mi-28UB has

undergone

some

modifications.

As well as the

dual controls, it

is now slightly

wider and

has slightly

reduced armor

protection.

Russian

Helicopters

Left: ‘White

01’ was one of

the first series

production

Mi-28UBs for the

VKS unveiled

to the public at

the Rostvertol

plant in

October. Russian

Helicopters

http://www.combataircraft.net January 2018

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