As demonstrated in the Soviet-Afghan war and other scenarios where helicopters were used by other countries, the Soviet Army needed a pure attack helicopter capable of, among other things, efficiently destroying enemy armoured vehicles. In 1976, after the Soviet Council of Ministers announced a competition to develop a new rotary-wing attacker, two distinguished design bureaus threw their hats into the ring: Kamov and Mil. Kamov engineers ended up being the first to present a new kind of Russian helicopter for testing: the well-known Ka-50 “Black Shark” was put into service in 1993.

Mil’s team of engineers and designers focused on perfecting an upgraded version of their baby, the Mi-28A, for year-round day and night use in any weather conditions. The project was called Mi-28N (“product 294”), and the “Night Hunter” ended up becoming the Russian Army’s primary attack helicopter.

The Mi-28N is currently mass-produced for the Russian Army, and the helicopter is also exported to Iraq and Algeria. The vehicle received its baptism of fire as a part of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria, where the Mi-28N participated in the liberation of Fallujah by the Iraqi Army, the battle of Ramadi, and other operations.