Combat aircraft

provides for a larger window in the door,

and makes it easier to open the door or its

transparency in emergency situations.

Despite its provisions for a combat role,

the Mi-28UB’s primary mission for the

VKS is combat training and continuation

training of Mi-28N and — in future

— Mi-28NM pilots. Its training system

can simulate various technical failures.

It is equipped with energy-absorbing

AK-2005 seats, which were  rst installed

and successfully trialed on 546th Army

Aviation Base Mi-28Ns deployed to Syria

during 2016.

In Russian service

Service acceptance tests of the Mi-28UB

lasted until the end of 2015. The

following April the Russian Ministry of

Defense placed an order for 24 examples

and series production began at the

Rostvertol plant. A second Mi-28UB

prototype was manufactured from

Mi-28N ‘06 Yellow’ (c/n 34012843265)

and was used by Rostvertol for  ight

tests in 2016. The new prototype, by then

renumbered as ‘39 Black’, was seen for

the  rst time at the Rostvertol plant on

August 8, 2016.

The  rst series production Mi-28UB for

the VKS was rolled out of the factory in

summer 2017, and it had completed its

service acceptance tests by August 22.

‘Production of the  rst Mi-28UB batch is

an extremely important event not only

for Rostvertol and Russian Helicopters

but also for our colleagues from the

Russian Ministry of Defense’, said Russian

Helicopters CEO Andrei Boginsky. ‘The

delivery of modernized Night Hunters

will begin soon. The Mi-28 proved its

e ciency, so we are expecting that its

training version will be in great demand.

This dual-control helicopter breaks new

ground for training  ight personnel for

machines of this type.’

On October 19, 2017, the initial series

production Mi-28UB for the VKS, ‘01

White’, was unveiled to the public at the

Rostvertol plant. The same day, Russian

Helicopters announced the completion

of Mi-28UB test  ights by the VKS and

their forthcoming delivery, planned for

November. The  rst eight aircraft — ‘01

White’ to ‘08 White’ — arrived at the

344th Army Aviation Training Center on

November 17. It is planned to deploy

at least two of the recently produced

Mi-28UBs to Hmeimin air base in Latakia,

Syria for test and evaluation in combat.

This will likely begin in December 2017 or

January 2018.

The VKS now has a  eet of almost 90

Mi-28N attack helicopters in service with

six Army Aviation bases. These comprise

the 344th Army Aviation Training Center

at Torzhok, the 387th Army Aviation

Base (formerly the 487th Independent

Helicopter Regiment) at Budennovsk, the

393rd Army Aviation Base (formerly the

55th Independent Helicopter Regiment)

at Korenovsk, the 546th Army Aviation

Base at Rostov-on-Don, the 378th Army

Aviation Base at Vyazma, and the 15th

Army Aviation Brigade in Ostrov. By the

end of the 2020s each one of these units

is expected to operate four to eight

Mi-28UBs.

Above: A

prototype

Mi-28UB

demonstrates

the

helicopter’s

inherent

combat

capability with

a full load of

guided and

unguided

ordnance,

including

Igla air-to-

air missiles.

Russian

Helicopters

Mi28UB | SPECIAL REPORT

79

January 2018 http://www.combataircraft.net

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