Mi-28A

Description

In March 1995, the Swedish Chief of Army Command, Åke Sagrén, announced the need for a dedicated attack helicopter platform, citing the changing nature of modern warfare and the HKP9A helicopter's inability to satisfy the Army's requirements. Two helicopters, the Boeing AH-64 Apache and the Mil Mi-28A Havoc, were chosen as final candidates after the field of potential helicopters was narrowed to two. These helicopters were flown by foreign pilots while Swedish crew served as operators/gunners. The former was regarded as a complex but effective platform, while the latter was viewed as reliable, easy to control, and less of a burden for maintenance crews. Both passed initial trials successfully, but procurement was cancelled due to budget cuts and a shift in national defence priorities.

The Mi-28A was introduced in Update "Wind of Change". Based on the early production Mi-28A that was trialed by the Swedish army during the 1990s, its loadouts and gunnery equipment are somewhat limited in comparison to the later Mi-28N and Mi-28NM, but it remains very potent in the right hands. Due to its effective rocket loadouts and 30 mm gun, it works best as an early-spawn helicopter, but thanks to its Ataka missiles, it is still capable of long-range combat in the middle to late stages of the game.

General info

Flight performance

Survivability and armour

Mi-28A Armour layout

Armour

The gunner and pilot are protected in the front with thin armour plating and slightly angled bulletproof glass, with an additional armour plating separating the both of them and an armour plate in the back. On the sides they are protected by thin armour plating together with some ceramic on both sides. An additional armour plating is located at the bottom protecting the crew from any minor shrapnel. Everything is surrounded by a small steel cage around the cockpit. Only the crew are protected and the engine and fuel tanks are left exposed.

• 42 mm (56-59°) Bulletproof glass - Frontal windshield
• 22 mm Bulletproof glass - Side windshield
• 10 mm Aluminium alloy - Cockpit front, middle, rear and bottom
• 10 mm Aluminium alloy - Cockpit sides and doors
• 16 mm Ceramic - Cockpit sides
• 8 mm Steel - Canopy framing

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)

Offensive armament

The Mi-28A is armed with:

• A choice between two presets:
  • 1 x 30 mm 2A42 cannon (250 rpg)
  • 1 x 30 mm 2A42 cannon + 128 x countermeasures

Suspended armament

The Mi-28A can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4
23 mm GSh-23L cannons (250 rpg)		1	1
S-8KO rockets	20	20	20	20
S-13OF rockets	5	5	5	5
9M120 Ataka missiles	8			8

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in a helicopter, the features of using the helicopter in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• A highly armored and well-protected helicopter, the Mi-28A can handle surprising amounts of enemy fire before succumbing to damage
• Access to the very good 9M120 missiles, allowing for long-range one-hit attacks on enemy ground targets
  • 9M120 missiles are also usable against air targets with some practice
• 30 mm 2A42 nose gun is very useful vs both air and ground targets - APDS belt is highly effective against SPAAs, light tanks, and tank destroyers
  • The gun, being nose-mounted, has a very large cone of movement, making it more useful than the semi-fixed one of the Ka-50 and Ka-52
• Access to both S-8KO HEAT and S-13OF HEF rockets - the latter are extremely capable in the right hands
• CCIP for all weaponry, allowing both 3rd and 1st person targetting with ease!
• Access to a good amount of flare and chaff to protect against AAMs and SAMs

Cons:

• The Mi-28A is a very large and relatively helicopter - it is by no means agile, and it needs to be flown carefully, as hard maneuvers at low altitude may very well lead to a crash
• No access to night vision or thermal imaging for the gunner position, meaning night maps are potentially difficult to navigate, and targetting is near impossible
• No IRCM or MAW system, meaning missile avoidance using countermeasures is entirely manual and dependent on being aware of surroundings
• The engine area is unprotected - even HMG or autocannon fire can damage the engines, transmission, and radiators, leading to severely reduced flight performance, or an unsurvivable loss of thrust
• Its well-known silhouette and its reputation means the Mi-28A will often be targeted by enemy SPAA and airplanes with high priority
• The SPO-15 RWR is unable to detect most SAM threats, such as the Rolands or 2S6, making it very vulnerable to them due to the lack of warning of their existence

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the helicopter in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Mi-28A from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

Related development

• Mi-28 (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.