The flight trials of the Mil Mi-28NM (NATO
reporting name: Havoc) advanced upgraded attack helicopter have been kicked off
in Russia, according to the Izvestia daily.
A prototype of the Mi-28NM upgraded attack
helicopter, also known as Product 296, has flown its early test sorties for its
controls and engines to be tested and its behavior to be assessed. Although the
cutting-edge aircraft was not unveiled yet, Algeria has displayed interest in
it.
At present, the Mi-28NM flies at the test
facility of the Mil Helicopter Plant in Lyubertsy. According to a source close
to the testing, the Mi-28NM will be handed over to the military after it passes
its preliminary and factory tests. Russian Helicopters is intent on completing
the work on the advanced machine before the end of the year and on launching
its full-rate production as soon as next year.
The aircraft has made its early test flights
without problems worth mentioning. Therefore, the testers will switch over to
the next stage of the trials, the defense industry source said.
According to Russian Deputy Defense Minister
Yuri Borisov, the sophisticated Mi-28NM is much different from the baseline
Mi-28N. In particular, it will carry a unique mast-mounted omnidirectional
radar, advanced engines, an all-new control system and an air defense countermeasures
system.
The helicopter also will be fitted out with a
more formidable weapons suite and cutting-edge main rotor blades that will
increase its cruising speed by 13% and maximum one by 10% compared with the
Mi-28N, which maximum speed stands at 340 km/h.
Its radar’s antenna is mounted on top of the
main rotor mast and covered by a special spherical radioparent fairing. Until
recently, N025E mast-mounted radars have equipped only the Mi-28NEs exported to
Iraq and Algeria. The Russian Aerospace Force has not received a single
helicopter with the mast-mounted radar.
The new-generation mast-mounted radar is in
production by the State Ryazan Instrument Plant, which Director General Pavel
Budagov explained that the latest device has the all-round scanning capability
and scans airspace in several wavebands. It processes data in several channels
simultaneously, which has boosted the accuracy of its target acquisition and
obstacle parameters, Budagov said. The device’s simultaneous multiple-target
tracking capability has been increased too.
The Mi-28NM is Russia’s first combat helicopter
powered by VK-2500P-01/PS engines made by Klimov as part of the import
substitution program.
Under the import substitution program, all
production-standard Mi-8/17 (Hip), Mi-28N, Mi-24/35 (Hind), Kamov Ka-50 (Hokum)
and Ka-27/29/31/32 (Helix) helicopters have been provided with all-Russian
VK-2500P-01/PS turboshaft engines, a representative of the United Engine
Corporation (UEC) says. Previously, the types had been equipped with
Ukrainian-made TV3-117s. The VK-2500 is a more advanced, sophisticated
derivative of the TV3-117.
According to UEC, the new engine’s main feature
is its FADEC system controlling it in flight in an automatic manner.
The latest design solutions embodied by the
VK-2500PS allow more reliable operation of helicopters not only in temperate
climate, but in hot and high environments as well.
According to a source in the defense industry,
Algeria has taken interest in the Mi-28NM. It is in talks with Russian official
arms exporter Rosoboronexport on the delivery of more sophisticated Mi-28NMs
instead of the Mi-28Ns ordered in December 2013, according to the Izvestia
daily.
Original post: defencetalk
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