(Photo: Max Bryansky)
'50 Yellow' .. as the Russians like to name their craft. This is the 'all new' Mi28N (Night Hunter) seen here sporting the Russian Air Force's new grey paint scheme. The image was taken 'somewhere' (the photographer was asked not to disclose the location) in Russia within the past week.
50 Yellow is carrying two 20-round B-8 folding-fin unguided rockets, one SACLOS 9M120 Ataka-V radio-guided anti-tank missile (AT-9 Spiral 2) and is fitted with a 30mm Shipunov 2A42 autocannon. She is also fitted with infra-red vision, laser sights as well as all the anti-missile and defensive measures paraphernalia.
(When this craft landed from its sortie it parked nexted a Kamov Ka-50 wearing the identifier 'Red 28'!).
A couple of military consultants I know have 'pooh-poohed' the Mi28 but I'm not being so quick to 'rubbish' what I believe is gradually becoming an increasingly sophisticed aircraft.
As an aside, did you know that, despite its heafty price tag (by comparison with the Mi-8/17) African and Latin American governments have expressed an extraordinary level of enthusiasm for this craft!
Here is the 'regular' Mi28 in action:
Enjoy!