The Russian military intervention in the Syrian War began in 2015. The intervention consisted of air strikes fires by Russian aircraft and attack helicopters, included modern Mil Mi-28s, stationed in the Khmeimim base in North Syria, against militant groups opposed to the Syrian government.
During a military operation in Syria was revealed a number of technical flaws of Mil Mi-28 (NATO reporting name of “Havoc”) modern attack helicopter designed to close air support and destroy operations armoured and un-armoured vehicles, and enemy personnel in combat.
New Russian helicopters have problems with engine installations, avionics, control and navigation systems. Earlier there were cases had an engine control problem and was reported that debris ejected on the launching of rockets could cause catastrophic damage.
According to head of the Russian Federation Council’s Committee for Defence and Security, Viktor Bondarev, Russian defence industry has fixed a number of technical and design flaws of the helicopter, but still have problems with onboard electronics and night vision systems.
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“Electronics is a failure: the pilot does not see anything, hears nothing,” said Viktor Bondarev.
According to the ex-commander-in-chief of the Russian Aero-Cosmic Forces (VKS) Viktor Bondarev, the night vision goggles used on the Mi-28s got the pilots nickname “death to pilots”.
It is worth remembering the crash of a Mi-28 helicopter in the Homs region on April 12, 2016. The tragedy was due to an error of the pilots who operated the flight in the dark conditions, according to the official version. But the military said that the cause of the crash was the problem with the night vision glasses of the helicopter pilot.
More: Photo of Mi-28 crashed during the Avidarts-2015
The Mi-28 “Night Hunter” is a modern attack helicopter designed to carry out search and destroy operations against tanks, armoured and un-armoured vehicles, and enemy personnel in combat, as well as low-speed airborne targets. The helicopter developed by Rostvertol, which is part of the of Russian Helicopters company, in Rostov-on-Don.
According to the Russian Helicopters, Mi-28 can operate night and day, and in adverse weather conditions. The Mi-28 “Night Hunter” has been officially accepted into service with the Russian Ministry of Defence.