Mil Mi - 28 Night Hunter The Mil Mi - 28 Night Hunter ( NATO reporting name : " Havoc " , GV " Devastation " ) is a two - seat Russian combat helicopter . Description . The attack helicopter Mil Mi 28N Night Hunter is the latest version of the model Havoc , produced for an open competition in the early 80s by the Soviet government for a new combat helicopter to replace the Mil Mi 24 Hind in antitank missions , able to counter NATO ' s sophisticated battle tanks . Yet , this competition was won by advanced Kamov Ka - 50 Hokum . However , the development of the Mil Mi - 28 was continued , though with less priority , to offer new versions with significant enhancements in performance , avionics and weapons to the Russian military . On November 14 , 1996 , a prototype of the latest version of the Mil Mi - 28 equipped for both , day or night combat made its first flight . Yet , it took another eight years , until April 2004 , for the production version to make its first flight . Since then , this advanced version , known as the Mil Mi - 28N was nicknamed Night Hunter , in reference to his ability to attack at night . The Mi - 28 has a more conventional design than its competitor Ka - 50 and its two - piece x - configuration tail rotor is similar to that found on the American Apache combat helicopter . This feature allows a reduction of noise of the tail rotor . Because the Mi - 28 is a combat helicopter working close to the battle field , armour is a feature that could not be forgotten about . Its armour is capable of sustaining impacts of projectiles of caliber 12 . 7 mm ( . 50 ) and 20 mm grenades , specifically in the area of the cabin . Electronics . The Mi - 28 is equipped with a millimeter wave radar mounted above the rotor , just like the Apache Longbow radar . This radar , an N - 025 - 280 Almaz , is able to detect a ground target 10 km away and fire guided missile AT - 9 Spiral 2 at them . Below the nose of the Mi - 28 is a turret targeting system TOR , a sensor with FLIR ( = Forward Lokking InfraRed , thermal imaging camera ) used for target designation and navigation , a TV camera , and a laser target designator used to guide laserguided missiles mounted on a turret . This suite of sensors provides the Mi - 28 with the most complete navigation and target designation capability . Performance . This powerful helicopter can reach a top speed of 300 km / h , thanks to its two Klimov TV - 3 - 117KM engines producing 2500 hp each . This engine is a version of the engine used in Kamov Ka - 50 Black Shark , with improved performance . These engines also show a rate of climb in the order of 820 m / min , which can be considered an excellent performance compared to helicopters of the same class . This rate of increase is double that of the similar American AH - 64 Apache Longbow . Armament . The offensive capability of this " flying tank " could be classified as impressive . The weight of arms can exceed 2300 kg . The Mi - 28 can transport a combination of 16 anti - tank missiles like the AT - 6 Spiral ( 9K114 Shturm ) with a range of 6 km and guided by radio , or the missile AT - 9 Spiral 2 ( 9M120 Ataka V ) at 6 km range and guided by radio . The AT - 9 is more accurate and destructive against armor than the AT - 6 . Two rocket pods of the calibers 80 mm and 122 mm are also often used . The Mi - 28 is armed with a 2A42 30 mm cannon with controlled rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute and loaded with 300 cartridges . The gun ' s muzzle velocity is 1000 m / sec . This gun , said to be the most powerful ever installed on a helicopter , can destroy light and medium armor and cause serious damage to an MBT . The Mi - 28 is in use in the Russian military with 16 units already delivered . It is expected that this number is going to rise to 300 units in the coming years . Variants