Overview
- Russia’s Defence Ministry released footage showing an Mi-28NM attack helicopter firing a small, jet-powered one-way cruise weapon, though the ministry did not identify the target or date.
- Open reporting and analysts say the weapon is either the Kronstadt-built Banderol or the related Dan-T, both of which fly set low-altitude routes using satellite and inertial navigation and do not return.
- Ukraine’s military intelligence has described the Banderol as about 5 metres long with roughly a 50 kg warhead and up to a 500 km range, while analysts say the Dan-T is a cheaper Dan-M derivative with an estimated larger warhead.
- The footage confirms a helicopter launch from a pylon under the Mi-28NM’s stub wing and shows that these small cruise weapons are being adapted for helicopters, jets, drones and ground launchers, which lets rotorcraft strike from far outside close-in air combat ranges.
- Key unknowns remain about which exact variant was shown, the intended target, production scale and combat effect, and observers say the next signs to watch are mass-production moves for the Dan-T and wider operational use across platforms.