BlueThunder Helicopter, winch and weapons wings from a gutted Dragonfly

The Mi-28 Hickham is a new-generation attack helicopter that functions as an air-to-air and air-to-ground partner for the Mi-24 Hind and Ka-50 Hokum. The three-blade main rotor is mounted above the body midsection, and short, wide, tapered, weapon-carrying wings are mounted to the rear of body midsection. Two turboshaft engines in pods are mounted alongside the top of the fuselage. It features a tandem cockpit and a cannon mounted beneath the belly, with fixed landing gear. The tapering tail boom with a swept-back fin has an internal turbofan.

The Mi-28N and Kamov Ka-50 are competing to fulfil the Russian Army Aviation requirement for a night-capable anti-tank helicopter, a replacement to the Mi-24 created 25 years ago. The Mi-28N is based on the Mi-28A, a daylight helicopter. In comparison with the AH-64D Longbow Apache, the 10.5-ton Mi-28N is some 2.5 tons heavier, partly due to its more powerful cannon. In general the two helicopters have similar flight performance. Two Klimov TV-3-117 engines of 2,200 hp each allow the Russian aircraft to show a maximum level speed of 300 km/h and maximum climb at sea-level of 13.6 meters per second.