The Indian defence ministry has dropped the Russian Mi-28N Night Hunter from its attack helicopter tender, an Indian Defense Ministry source revealed.

RIA Novosti has quoted the source as saying: "We decided not to choose the Mi-28 for technical reasons. Our experts believe that the Mi-28N did not meet the requirements of the tender on 20 positions, while the Apache showed better performance."

India had issued a $600m tender for the delivery of 22 attack helicopters including an optional delivery of an additional 22 helicopters.

Russia is also taking part in two other Indian helicopter tenders for heavy transport helicopters and light general-purpose helicopters.

The Indian military helicopter market is expected to raise a demand for 700 helicopters in the next decade.