Russian Mi-28 Helicopter Fires Cheap Cruise Missile on Video
Russia has put a cruise missile under the wing of an attack helicopter built to fight at close range. The Russian Defense Ministry released video this week showing an Mi-28NM firing a small, low-cost cruise missile, what The War Zone called the clearest official sign yet that Moscow wants cheap, long-range strike weapons on as many platforms as it can field. The footage settles little: the weapon's identity, range and effect rest mostly on claims and estimates.
In the clip, one missile was fired from a pylon under the left stub wing, and the helicopter returned with an unfired missile still under the right one. The ministry gave no date, location, target details or weapon name.
Russian media reports, relayed by SOFX, said the crew received coordinates for Ukrainian personnel and a drone control post in the sector of Russia's West group of forces, and that the ministry called the weapon the Dan-T. Those details come from reporting around the video, not from the video itself. Moscow says the missile hit its target, and nothing public independently verifies that.
The Russian outlet Voennoe Delo pointed out that the missile's engine ignition was not recorded. The cameras captured the release but not the missile's flight, so the footage does not show it working as a cruise missile or striking anything.
The Ukrainian channel MilitaryNewsUA reposted the video on X, and a Nov. 6 post by MilitaryNewsUA describes it as a launch of the "Banderol" loitering munition, labeled "Dan-T," from an Mi-28NM. The post carries the video, but it is a commentary account's label, not an official identification.
Western coverage generally identifies the weapon as the S8000 Banderol, made by Russia's Kronstadt and first detailed by Ukrainian military intelligence in 2025. The reported figures, mostly from that Ukrainian source, include a range of up to about 310 miles and a warhead of roughly 110 pounds. The War Zone stressed that these specifications are not independently confirmed.
The Dan-T name surfaced publicly at Egypt's El Alamein airshow in September. A TASS report quoted RANEPA military expert Alexander Stepanov describing a loitering munition with a range of up to 450 km and a weight of up to 270 kilograms that can launch from aircraft including the Mi-28N. Stepanov called it visually similar to the Banderol but with different specifications.
Rosoboronexport's listing, as reported by Janes and relayed by Defense Express, gave a launch weight of 268 kg and a warhead of 130 kg. Janes suggested the Dan-T is probably an export version of the Banderol. That assessment sits awkwardly beside the TASS expert's description of different specifications, and SOFX noted it remains unclear whether the two are one weapon or close relatives.
The numbers also differ. Banderol's range is cited at about 310 miles, Rosoboronexport lists 450 km, or about 280 miles, and Voennoe Delo estimates 500 km. Warhead figures run from roughly 110 pounds to 130 kg to up to 150 kg. All of these are claimed or estimated. Rostec told TASS in October that Dan-T has seen hundreds of successful launches in Ukraine, again with no independent verification.
The Mi-28's longest-range guided weapon reaches a little over nine miles, according to The War Zone. A missile with a reported reach of hundreds of kilometers would let a crew launch from well inside Russian airspace, far from the front and from most short-range Ukrainian defenses. That matters because Mi-28s are slow, fly low and are vulnerable to air defenses. Oryx counts 21 lost since the full-scale invasion, out of about 110 at the start, and Oryx counts only visually confirmed losses, so the true figure could be higher.
The weapon is already a fixture of the air war. Ukraine's Air Force recorded 16 Banderol strikes between mid-May and mid-July, including five launches in one barrage on July 16, and Ukrainian reports suggest Russia may focus procurement on the Dan-T, possibly in the tens of thousands. Those procurement claims are unconfirmed.
Confirmed: Russia's Defense Ministry published video of an Mi-28NM releasing a small cruise missile. Claimed: that it was a Dan-T, that it hit a Ukrainian drone control post and that it flew hundreds of kilometers. Unknown: the date, the location, the weapon's actual performance and how many Mi-28s can carry it. Until independent evidence shows the missile's flight and effect, treat this as a demonstration of intent more than proof of capability. For Ukraine's air defenders, that intent alone adds one more direction to watch.
