Kamov Ka-50

Ka-50 "Black Shark"
Ka-52 "Alligator"
Kamov Ka-50 of the Russian Air Force (VVS)
Role Attack helicopter
National origin Soviet Union / Russia
Manufacturer Kamov
First flight 17 June 1982
Introduction 28 August 1995
Status Active service
Primary user Russian Air Force
Number built Ka-50: 16 as of 2006[1]
Ka-52: 10 as of 2006[2]
Unit cost 484 million rubles (approx. $15 million) as of May 2009.[1]

The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" (Russian: Чёрная акула, NATO reporting name: Hokum A) is a single-seat Russian attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design bureau. It was designed in the 1980s and adopted for service in the Russian army in 1995. It is currently manufactured by the Progress company in Arsenyev.

During the late 1990s, Kamov and Israel Aerospace Industries developed a tandem-seat cockpit version, the Kamov Ka-50-2 "Erdogan", to compete in Turkey's attack helicopter competition. Kamov also designed another two-seat variant, the Kamov Ka-52 "Alligator" (Russian: Аллигатор, NATO reporting name: Hokum B).[3]

Contents

Development

The Ka-50 is the production version of the V-80Sh-1 prototype. Production of the attack helicopter was ordered by the Soviet Council of Ministers on 14 December 1987.[4] Development of the helicopter was first reported in the West in 1984. The first photograph appeared in 1989.[5] Following initial flight testing and system tests the Council ordered the first batch of helicopters in 1990. The attack helicopter was first described publicly as the "Ka-50" in March 1992 at a symposium in the United Kingdom.[4]

The helicopter was publicly unveiled at the Mosaeroshow '92 at Zhukovskiy, in August 1992. The following month, the second production example made its foreign debut at the Farnborough Airshow, where it was displayed with an image of a werewolf on its rudder- gaining the popular nickname "Werewolf". However, it was the fifth prototype that gave the Ka-50 a particularly enduring designation. Painted black for its staring role in the movie "Чёрная акула/Black Shark", the helicopter has been known by that nickname ever since. In November 1993, four production helicopters were flown to the Army Aviation Combat Training Centre at Torzhok to begin field trials. The president of the Russian Federation authorized the fielding of the Ka-50 with the Russian Army on August 28, 1995. However, the effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union had led to a massive drop in defense procurement. This resulted in a mere dozen Ka-50s instead of the planned several hundred being delivered, meaning that there was still no proper replacement for the Mi-24.[6]

The Ka-50 was designed to be small, fast, and agile to improve survivability and lethality. For minimal weight and size (thus maximum speed and agility) it was–uniquely among gunships–to be operated by a single pilot only. Kamov concluded after thorough research of helicopter combat in Afghanistan and other war zones that the typical attack mission phases of low-level approach, pop-up target acquisition, and weapon launch do not simultaneously demand navigation, maneuvering, and weapons operation of the pilot; and thus with well-designed support automation a single pilot can carry out the entire mission alone. However, it is still an unanswered question whether in practice the rank and file of Black Shark pilots would suffer from excess fatigue from this combined workload.

Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" on display

Like other Kamov helicopters, it features Kamov's characteristic contra-rotating co-axial rotor system, which removes the need for the entire tail-rotor assembly and improves the aircraft's aerobatic qualities–it can perform loops, rolls, and “the funnel” (circle-strafing), where the aircraft maintains a line-of-sight to the target while flying circles of varying altitude, elevation, and airspeed around it. Using two rotors means that a smaller rotor with slower-moving rotor tips can be used compared to a single rotor design. Since the speed of the advancing rotor tip is a primary limitation to the maximum speed of a helicopter, this allows a faster maximum speed than helicopters such as the AH-64. The elimination of the tail rotor is a qualitative advantage because the torque-countering tail rotor can use up to 30% of engine power. Furthermore, the vulnerable boom and rear gearbox are fairly common causes of helicopter losses in combat; the Black Shark's entire transmission presents a comparatively small target to ground fire. Kamov maintains that the co-axial drive assembly is built to survive hits from 23 mm ammunition like the other vital parts of the helicopter. The zero native torque also allows the aircraft to be fairly immune to wind strength and direction, and to have an unsurpassed turn rate in all travel speed envelopes.

The single seat configuration was considered undesirable by NATO. The first two Ka-50 prototypes had false windows painted on them.[7] The "windows" evidently worked as the first western reports of the aircraft were wildly inaccurate. For improved pilot survivability the Ka-50 is fitted with a NPP Zvezda K-37-800 ejection seat, which is a rare feature for a helicopter.[8] Before the rocket in the ejection seat deploys, the rotor blades are blown away by explosive charges in the rotor disc and the canopy is similarly jettisoned.

The Ka-50 and its modifications have been chosen as the special forces support helicopter while the Mi-28 has become the main army's gunship. The production of Ka-50 was recommenced in 2006. It was announced in late 2008 that only five more Ka-50s would be produced, and that production would be reconfigured to make exclusively the more adaptable and advanced Ka-52s.

Ka-50N and Ka-50Sh

From the time the Ka-50 was ordered in 1987 it was known that the limited night-time capability of the original Ka-50 version would have to be upgraded to meet night attack requirements. Some Ka-50s were fitted with low light TV and infared sensors for testing. Kamov drafted a design in 1993 that included the Shkval-N sighting system that included an infrared sensor.[9] They were named Ka-50N ("Nochnoy/Night") and Ka-50Sh ("Shar/Sphere"—because of the spherical FLIR turret). Many variants were tried, on some the original "Shkval" was supplemented by a thermal imaging system, while on others—completely replaced by "Samshite" day-and-night system (also used on Ka-52), including French SAGEM or Thomson thermal imagers. None of those have entered full production.

Ka-52 "Alligator"

Ka-52 "061", Zhukovski, 2009

Back in the early 1980s, while the comparative tests of the V-80 (Ka-50 prototype) and Mil Mi-28 were still ongoing, the Kamov design team came up with a proposal to develop a dedicated helicopter to conduct battlefield reconnaissance, provide target designation and support group attack helicopter operations. However, the economic hardships that hit the nation in the late 1980s hampered the development program of the new type. This prompted Kamov's Designer General to choose a modified version of Ka-50 on which to install the recce and target designation system. The modified "Hokum" required a second crew member to operate the optronics/radar recce suite. Kamov decided to use side-by-side seating arrangement, due to the verified improvements in co-operation between the crew members. This twin seat version of the "Hokum" received a designation of Ka-52. Manufacturing of the first Ka-52 airframe began in mid-1996.[6] Serial production was started in autumn 2008.[10]

The Ka-52 is another modification of the basic Ka-50 design. It features a two-seat side-by-side cockpit, and is designed to detect targets and redistribute them among supporting Ka-50s. In comparison to the original Ka-50, it has a somewhat "softer" nose profile due to the wider cockpit, reduced cockpit armor, and large nose-mounted radome. Equipment includes radar with two antennas—mast-mounted for aerial targets and nose-mounted for ground targets, and "Samshite" day-and-night TV/thermal sighting system in two spherical turrets (one over the cockpit and second under the nose). The Ka-52 retains the side mounted cannon and six wing mounted hardpoints of the original Ka-50.[11]

Ka-50-2 "Erdogan"

Ka-50-2 "Erdogan"

In 1997, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in cooperation with the Kamov bureau entered the Ka-50-2 Erdogan (Turkish for "Born Warrior") in a Turkish design competition for a $4 billion contract for 145 (later changed to 50) combat helicopters.[12]

The Ka-50-2 is a tandem cockpit, two-seat variant of the Ka-50. It featured a modern, Israeli-made "glass cockpit" avionics and a turret-mounted folding (for landing clearance) 30 mm cannon instead of the fixed cannon on the Ka-50. It features combat proven avionics and advanced anti-tank guided missiles for a high level of combat effectiveness. The helicopter has excellent flight performance, and high combat survivability due to its coaxial rotor technology. It is equipped with IAI's flexible modular avionics suite, which can be readily tailored to meet the TLF's operational requirements and provides growth potential.[12]

IAI and Kamov successfully completed demonstration flights of the Russian helicopter with IAI's Core Avionics. These demonstration flights demonstrated the helicopter's "glass cockpit" with multifunctional displays and Control & Display Unit (CDU) driven by centralized Mission and Display computers, flight navigation and the operation of the Helicopter Multi-Mission Optronic Stabilized Payload (HMOSP) targeting system. The demonstration flights included night mission capability demonstrations, utilizing Night Vision Goggles (NVG) and the day/night targeting system.[12]

The Erdogan, Eurocopter Tiger, AH-64 Apache, AH-2 Rooivalk and A129 Mangusta helicopters lost to an improved version of AH-1 SuperCobra. In the end the contract went to the A129 in 2007.[13]

Design

Weapons

The aircraft carries a substantial load of weapons in four external hardpoints under the stub wings plus two on the wingtips, a total of some 2,000 kg depending on the mix.[14]

The main armament are the twelve laser-guided Vikhr anti-tank missiles with a maximum range of some 8 km. The laser guidance is reported to be virtually jam-proof and the system features automatic guidance to target, enabling evasive action immediately after missile launch. The fire control system automatically shares all target information among the four Black Sharks of a typical flight in real time, allowing one helicopter to engage a target spotted by another, and the system can also input target information from ground-based forward scouts with personnel-carried target designation gear. The Ka-50 can carry also carry several Rocket pods, which include the S-13 and the S-8 rockets. The rockets, rocket pods, and along with the Ka-50 can be upgraded to the Ugroza Precision-guided munition system.[15] The integrated 30 mm cannon is semi-rigidly fixed on the helicopter's side, movable only slightly in elevation and azimuth. The semi-rigid mounting improves the cannon's accuracy, giving the 30 mm a longer practical range and better hit ratio at medium ranges than with a free-turning turret mount.

Operational history

Ka-50 took part in the Russian Army's anti-terrorist operations against rebels in the Chechen Republic. In December 2000, a pair of production Ka-50s arrived to the area. With the Ka-50s was a Ka-29, to provide reconnaissance and target designation. On January 6, 2001, the Ka-50 used live weapons against a real enemy for the first time. On January 9, at the entry into a mountain gorge in the area of a settlement named Komsomolskoye, a single Ka-50 accompanied by an Mi-24 used S-8 unguided rockets to destroy a warehouse full of ammunition belonging to Chechen insurgents. On February 6, in the forest covered mountain area to the south of the village of Tsentoroj, the strike group composed of two Ka-50s and the sole Ka-29 discovered and, from a range of 3 km, destroyed a fortified camp of insurgents using two "Vikhr" guided missiles. February 14, saw a similar strike group carrying out a "hunting" mission in the area of Oak-Yurt and Hatun. In difficult conditions, pilots found and destroyed eight targets. These missions tested the type's airframe, as well as its on-board systems and armament. Its successful performance in difficult, mountainous terrain once again confirmed the usefulness of the many advanced features of the Ka-50's design, including its power and maneuverability.[6]

It is unclear if the type has been used in combat since. However, it has participated in a number of exercises. Most notable has been "Boundary 2004" which took place on the Edelweiss mountain range in Kyrgyzstan, in August 2004. Once again the "Hokum" demonstrated its advantages by operating at a high altitude and an air temperature of more than 30 °C. A Ka-50 provided cover for the landing of troops and then successfully worked on the ground targets using its cannons and rockets.[6]

India issued a request for proposal for 22 attack helicopters for the Indian Air Force in May 2008.[16] The Kamov Ka-50 along with Mil's Mi-28 and Eurocopter's Tiger were the front-runners for this order as of October 2008.[17]

Jordan is negotiating for the purchase of Ka-52 helicopters in 2010.

Operators

 Russia

Note: Bort 22 with a distinctive "Black Shark" livery was lost. It crashed in 1998, killing Maj. Gen. Boris Vorobyov. Exact details of the crash remain elusive.[6]

Specifications

Kamov Ka-50 Hokum graphic.gif
Kamov Ka-52 on display
Data for Ka-50, differences for Ka-52 noted.

Data from Ka-50 page,[19] Ka-52 page,[11] Aerospaceweb[20]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

Comparable aircraft

References

Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 KA-50 Hocum/ Werewolf, warfare.ru
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 KA-52 Alligator, warfare.ru
  3. ↑ Hewson, R. The Vital Guide to Military Aircraft, p. 58. England: Airlife Publishing Ltd, 2001.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Donald 2004, pp. 310–11.
  5. ↑ "Kamov Ka-50 Chernaya Akula". Jane's All the World's Aircraft. Jane's Information Group, 2009. (subscription article, dated 14 September 2009).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Andrey Fomin. July 2005. "Kamov Warriors". Combat Aircraft. Vol.7, No.1, p.64-73.
  7. ↑ Eden, Paul. Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft. p. 223, Amber Books, 2004. ISBN 1904687849.
  8. ↑ Donald 2004, p. 308.
  9. ↑ Donald 2004, pp. 311–314.
  10. ↑ Началось серийное производство вертолетов Ка-52 (Full scale production of Ka-52 has begun) (Russian), (translated to English)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Kamov Ka-52 product page (Russian), (translated to English).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Ka-50-2 Erdogan. globalsecurity.org, 9 November 2008.
  13. ↑ "Turkey picks A129 in delayed attack helicopter competition". Flight International, 10 April 2007
  14. ↑ http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/ka50/
  15. ↑ http://www.jetdiscovery.com/wiki/ugroza-precision-guided-weapon-system-based-s-8-s-13-and-s-24-aircraft-rockets
  16. ↑ "India to Buy 22 Attack Helos for $550M". Defense News,
  17. ↑ Govindasamy, Siva. "Bell, Boeing quit Indian attack helicopter contest". Flight International, 10 October 2008.
  18. ↑ "Directory: World Air Forces". Flight International, 11–17 November 2008. (FI lists a combined 25 Ka-50/52 helicopters)
  19. ↑ Kamov Ka-50 product page (Russian), (translated to English)
  20. ↑ Ka-50/52 page. Aerospaceweb.org.
  21. ↑ http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/ka50/
  22. ↑ http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/ka-50.php
Bibliography
  • Donald, David and , Daniel J March. "Ka-50/52, Kamov's 'Hokum' family". Modern Battlefield Warplanes. AIRtime Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-880588-76-5.

External links

Aircraft produced by Kamov

Ka-8 • Ka-10 • Ka-15 • Ka-18 • Ka-20 • Ka-22 • Ka-25 • Ka-26 • Ka-27 • Ka-28 • Ka-32 • Ka-37 • Ka-40 • Ka-50 • Ka-52 • Ka-60 • Ka-62 • Ka-118 • Ka-126 • Ka-128 • Ka-226
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