The Iranian Army has reportedly acquired a number of new batches of Russian Mi-28 assault helicopters, following affirmation in January that the primary of the brand new plane had been delivered. The operationalisation of the Mi-28 marks the primary vital enchancment to the Iranian assault helicopter fleet in over half a century, with the plane anticipated to switch a fleet of roughly 50 Vietnam Struggle period AH-1 Corbras that had been provided by america within the Nineteen Seventies. The chance has additionally been raised by analysts that the brand new assault helicopters may be used to equip the Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Drive, which deploys Su-22M4 strike fighters and a spread of unmanned fight plane. The Mi-28 is the primary post-Soviet fight plane which Russia has delivered to Iran.
Iranian Deputy Defence Minister Brigadier Normal Mehdi Farahi in November 2023 confirmed plans to introduce the Mi-28 and the Su-35 air superiority fighter into service, with the service entry of the Su-35 anticipated to considerably strengthen Iranian air defences, offering extremely complementary capabilities to the present ground-based air defence community. With the Su-35s having but to reach within the nation, nonetheless, Iran has since January confronted a serious buildup of U.S. forces within the Center East. Whereas the Mi-28 is taken into account among the many world’s most succesful assault helicopter sorts, the anticipated closely reliance on aviation and missile belongings for a possible U.S. assault on Iran will doubtless restrict its utility. With Western-backed paramilitary items in Iran have extensively focused the nation’s vital infrastructure and its air defence methods, nonetheless, which was acheived Western and Israeli provided weaponry, the Mi-28 might present a useful speedy response functionality in opposition to such assaults inside Iran. The plane can also show precious for anti-drone duties, notably after U.S. forces made an unprecedented use of loitering munitions throughout assaults on Venezuela on January 3.
The Iranian assault helicopter fleet has lengthy been thought-about underwhelming in its capabilities, and suffered overwhelming losses within the Iran-Iraq Struggle when participating the Iraqi Army’s Soviet-supplied Mi-24 assault helicopters in giant scale air battles. The procurement of the Mi-28 might characterize a turning level on this regard, with Iranian forces having gained expertise working alongside the brand new helicopters in opposition to varied Islamist terror teams, each in Iraq with assist of Iraqi Army Mi-28s within the 2010s, and in Syria the place Russia deployed Mi-28s to assist counterinsurgency efforts. The newest variant of the Mi-28, the Mi-28NM, was first fight examined in Syria from 2016, with its efficiency within the theatre thought to have been a significant component influencing the Russian Defence Ministry to signal contracts for the availability of 98 extra plane by 2027.
The Mi-28’s design has pioneered outstandingly excessive ranges of crew safety, with its titanium cockpit protected by armoured glass and ceramic plates able to withstanding hits from 20mm rounds. The helicopters are exceptionally agile regardless of their heavy armour, able to a roll angle of as much as 70 levels, in comparison with simply 45-60 levels for the previous Mi-24. The Mi-28’s capability to deal with a vertical load issue of two.8G, in comparison with simply 1.8G for the Mi-24, additionally permits for tighter turns, with the plane’s distinctive gentle efficiency traits permitting it to carry out aerobatic manoeuvres like loops, and to fly in ways in which confuse air defence methods, corresponding to flying sideways and backwards at excessive pace. Integrating the LMUR anti-tank missile, the helicopters can interact targets at secure distances of as much as 25 kilometres away.
